Parasites of our Parasites are Not our Friends: Can Microbes and Viruses, Manipulating Behavior, increase Transmissibility?

Hard to believe but microbes and parasites can manipulate vectors and hosts to facilitate transmission (Chapter 30 Spotted Fever, Typhus and Other Fevers of Unknown Origin within Us: Parasites of Our Parasites are Not Our Friends”— The Black Dragon Trilogy). Toxoplasmosis in the brains of mice can make them bolder so they become more likely to be eaten by cats, the primary host of Toxoplasma gondii, in which the parasite replicates and sheds cysts in the feces. Insect behaviors can be influenced by a variety of parasites: Plasmodium (malaria), Leishmania and Trypanosoma spp. (Sleeping Sickness and Chagas Disease) manipulating the behavior of mosquitoes, sand flies and kissing bugs, respectively. Ticks are made more robust by a variety of obligate intracellular bacteria and even a virus: Anaplasma (Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis), Borrelia, Babesia, Bartonella (cat scratch fever), Rickettsia (spotted fevers) and tick-borne encephalitis virus. Being infected by Borrelia (Relapsing fever and recurring fevers and Lyme Disease) and TBEV boosts tick mobility (both questing and walking). Borrelia and Anaplasma infection enhances Ixodes tick desiccation resistance. Other parasite-driven physiological changes include with Borrelia: higher fat reserves; Anaplasma: synthesis of heat shock proteins and improved cold resistance in infected ticks through synthesis of an antifreeze glycoprotein. Being infected by Anaplasma, Borrelia and Babesia leads to increased tick survival in general. Borrelia, Babesia and Bartonella infections facilitate blood engorgement by ticks. https://res.mdpi.com/d_attachment/pathogens/pathogens-09-00664/article_deploy/pathogens-09-00664-v3.pdf. We are familiar with rabies making dogs and other mammals more aggressive and prone to bite to deliver virus. Perhaps, SARS-CoV-2 is enhancing risky behaviors and resistance to rational precautions, enhancing the spread of COVID-19, really outsmarting people?