Sick young ants release a smell to tell worker ants to destroy them to protect the colony from infection, scientists said Tuesday, adding that queens do not seem to commit this act of self-sacrifice.

Many animals conceal illness for social reasons. For example, sick humans are known to risk infecting others so they can still go to the office — or the pub.

Ant colonies, however, act as one "super-organism" which works to ensure the survival of all, similar to how infected cells in our bodies send out a "find-me and eat-me" signal, according to an Austria-led team of scientists.

Ant nests are a "perfect place for a disease outbreak to occur because there are thousands of ants crawling over each other," Erika Dawson, a behavioral ecologist at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria

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