The parasite of my parasite is my friend? Virulence factors of pathogenic bacteria can be swapped by means of bacterial viruses called phages. In turn, the pathogenic bacteria are under attack by the hosts' immune responses. Diard et al. discovered that SopEϕ, a phage parasite of pathogenic Salmonella species, is encouraged to spread between bacteria by the mouse host's inflammatory responses. Conversely, mucosal vaccination against Salmonella reduced inflammatory responses and curbed the transfer of SopEϕ to naïve bacteria. Science , this issue p. 1211