Chef, 29, dies after contracting a FUNGAL infection that ‘ate big holes in his lungs’ – as the deadly infection spreads across America

A chef in Michigan has died from a fungal infection that ravaged his body for months – amid signs that tensions are rising in the US.

Ian Pritchard, 29, of Petoskey, was taken off life support this weekend at his own request after weeks of suffering and pain, according to his family who said the fungus was “eating holes in his lungs.”

He was originally hospitalized around Thanksgiving with flu-like symptoms and transferred to a hospital in Detroit for more intensive care, where he was diagnosed with blastomycosis.

His condition rapidly deteriorated when the spores traveled deep into his lungs and infected the tissue there, making them resemble “Swiss cheese,” according to his father Ron.

Blastomyces is more common than scientists previously knew, showing up in many eastern states where the disease is not considered endemic

The fungal infection was caused by exposure to the blastomyces fungus that lurks in the soil, wet leaves and rotting wood across much of the Midwest.

Health officials have not found the source of Ian’s infection, but his social media is flooded with images of himself spending time outside taking photos with friends and running around with his black Labrador Retriever.

Infections in that region have increased in recent years, although the fungus’s true toll in the U.S. is unknown because the vast majority of states are not required to report it to the government.

Ian was a chef at a Tex-Mex restaurant in Harbor Springs called Rodrigo’s before he died.

His father Ron said: ‘He was a good boy. He didn’t get into much trouble, it was no problem to raise.

“People love his food, people love him.”

Ian spent months in hospital before succumbing to the infection on Saturday.

He was hospitalized the week before Thanksgiving.

The map above shows states where cases of blastomycosis are confirmed (red), recently confirmed (orange), or suspected (blue)

Although it is not clear what his symptoms were at first, the early stages of a blastomycosis infection generally resemble a flu-like illness.

Early stage symptoms include coughing, fever, chills, muscle aches, joint pain and chest pain.

Mr. Pritchard’s condition rapidly deteriorated and he was transferred to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. There, doctors determined that the cause of his infection was exposure to blastomyces.

In total, Ian was in the hospital in Detroit for more than five weeks.

His father Ron said: ‘They showed us a picture of his lungs and they literally looked like Swiss cheese.’

The infection occurs when a person inhales spores of the blastomyces fungus, which are usually found in wet leaves, soil and rotting wood. Infection from inhaling the spores is rare and only about half of those exposed will experience symptoms.

The infection starts in the lungs, where the spores lodge in the lung tissue.

The immune system launches an attack on the infection, sending an army of white blood cells to the lungs. However, this leads to inflammation in the lung tissue, causing permanent damage.

Blastomycosis can spread in the bloodstream to various parts of the body, including the bones, brain, and other organs. It kills between four and 22 percent of his victims.

Antifungal treatments are available, including itraconazole and amphotericin B. But the infection bypassed the antifungal medications, meaning Ian would be unable to receive a much-needed lung transplant.

Ron Pritchard’s colleagues have one GoFundMe page to help the family cover travel costs to stay with their son in the hospital and the medical bills are piling up. Ian’s antifungal medications alone cost about $7,000 for a month’s supply.

The fungus is endemic to the upper Midwest, the region where hospitalizations due to blastomycosis are most common.

Ian Pritchard, right, is pictured with his father Ron Pritchard

Ian is one of about half of the people exposed to the mold who become ill. The infection is fatal in up to 22 percent of cases

According to an update on the GoFundMe page, Ian responded in his final days and it was his decision to let go and ask his family to pull the plug.

The Pritchards have now lost two children. The first was Ian’s older brother, who was stillborn at eight months. Both boys are survived by their sister Megan, who was at Ian’s side when he passed away.

Exposure to blastomyces is relatively common in the upper Midwest and areas surrounding the Great Lakes.

Ron Pritchard said: ‘It’s in the air, it’s in the trees, it’s in the wet leaves, it’s in the ground, it’s in the mud, it’s everywhere. “Everywhere in northern Michigan – basically the Midwest – it’s covered in (blastomyces).”

The true toll that blastomyces takes on a person’s health is not fully known, as most states do not require infections to be reported.

Those reporting cases of blastomycosis include Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

There’s no evidence yet that the fungus has gotten better at evading treatments, although it’s a threat the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has highlighted with another type of fungus, Candida auris (C. auris).

There are only one to three cases per 100,000 people per year in states where blastomycosis is a reportable condition.

Scientists have warned that an increasingly warmer global climate will only make infections such as blastomycosis more common.

As temperatures warm, fungi adapt to survive in those warmer climates. They also learn to survive better in the warm bodies of people.

A 2022 report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine said that more than 10 percent of fungal infections are diagnosed outside regions where the pathogens are known to be endemic.

Dr. George Thompson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, Davis and co-author of the report, said: We’re definitely seeing disease in locations we didn’t see before.

“And that’s worrying because if we recognize those locations, where are the places where it occurs that haven’t been fully recognized yet?”