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Question of the Week / Re: QotW - 18.08.19 - Do wild animals get allergies?
« on: 23/08/2018 10:12:08 »My Mum's dog gets itchy skin and costs a fortune in steroids, anti-histamines and immune modulators to keep the scratching under control.
Not a wild animal, admittedly, but pretty close. But I suspect that the selective pressure not to develop an allergy amongst wildlife is considerably stronger than for pets and humans.
In the wild things are not as clean as they are in a good hospital, perhaps a dirtier less hygienic environment builds a better immunity to allergens https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9357-the-dirty-truth-about-allergies/ .
Edit: In the wild, natural selection may be more effective with no anti allergen medicines to keep wild tings alive and healthy.
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