Quanta Magazine: The Body’s Clock Offers a Rhythmic Target to Viruses

“The parasites are organizing their development through the cycle,” Reece said, so that when they are most hungry will coincide with when the most food is entering the bloodstream from the host’s feeding. If the parasite’s cycle shifts and it bursts out at a less optimal time, the parasite doesn’t replicate or transmit as well, which suggests that the usual timing carries a survival benefit.