First ever case of human being struck down by killer plant fungus
An Indian mushroom hunter has contracted a fungal disease that kills plants in a world first.
The 61-year-old sought help after suffering from flu-like symptoms and swallowing problems for three months.
Mystified doctors performed scans that revealed he had an abscess in his trachea.
Surgeons drained the pus and sent samples to a lab, which revealed he had caught chondrostereum purpureum.
The fungus causes silver leaf disease in plants, which is spread by airborne spores and turns plant leaves the metallic color before slowly killing them.
Medics used CT images as a guide to insert a needle and perform aspiration — removing the excess fluid from the abscess. After the pus was completely drained, collected in a petri dish (pictured) and sent for examination, the man was given two courses of antibiotics over two months
Initial lab tests to check for bacteria gave no indication of the disease. But a further screening test revealed that the fungus, septate hyphae (pictured), was present
He probably became infected during his research as a plant mycologist, working directly with fungi, yeasts and mushrooms.
The man, who was not mentioned by name, had been dealing with “decaying material, mushrooms and various plant fungi” for some time, according to doctors who treated him.
The case “raises serious questions” because it proves the infection can affect “healthy as well as immunocompromised individuals,” they warned.
Write in the journal Case reports on medical mycologymedics from Consultant Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals said the patient went to the hospital complaining of a recurrent cough, hoarseness of voice and fatigue that he had not been able to change for three months.
The man, who had no underlying conditions that put him at risk, also had difficulty swallowing and a sore throat.
The date of the incident was not revealed in the case report.
On examination, X-rays of the man’s chest came back as “normal.”
But CT scan results showed the man had a paratracheal abscess in his neck.
Such abscesses can be fatal if not noticed and treated quickly, as they can block the airways and lead to life-threatening infections.
Usually it is treated with antibiotics and surgery to drain it.
After the pus was completely drained and sent to the World Health Organization Collaboration Center in North India for testing, the man was given two courses of antibiotics over two months.
Researchers there identified the disease as chondrostereum purpureum.
Until now, there was no evidence that any particular type of fungus could infect humans, the researchers said.
The man was free of the disease two years later, doctors confirmed.
Of the millions of fungi present in the environment, only a few hundred fungi can currently infect humans and animals.
‘In recent decades, several new pathogenic fungi have emerged,’ say the scientists.
An exacerbation of global warming will also “open Pandora’s box for newer fungal diseases,” they added.
Rising temperatures are accelerating the number of mutations that occur in fungi, which could increase drug resistance and make them more adaptable to survival in the human body.
It comes as US health officials last week issued a warning about the fungus Candida auris, citing that the disease, which can kill up to 60 percent of the people it infects, has tripled in recent years and has become resistant to multiple drugs.
Concerns about the threat posed by molds have been brought into the spotlight due to the popular US TV show The Last of US, which has been viewed by tens of millions of people worldwide.
It sees people who become infected with a fugus called cordyceps transform into zombies.
As it stands, the fungus can only infect insects, such as ants. But its effects have been labeled zombie-like, with cordyceps growing out of its host’s body and controlling its behavior.