The Pacific island of Guam is known for very high rates
of a degenerative disease that looks like motor neuron, Parkinson's
and dementia, but cannot be firmly identified as any of them. Researchers
believe that this higher than average incidence could be due to eating
a bat, also known as a flying fox. The flying foxes feed on seed containing
a chemical highly toxic to human brain cells. When humans eat the animals,
high levels of the chemical, which had accumulated in the bat tissues,
was passed on. Flying fox is a delicacy in many parts of the Pacific,
including Tonga, Vanuatu, New Caledonia.