There’s a new breed of killer stalking the woods of America’s Pacific Northwest region, and it’s something that strikes silently and dangerously. It’s called Cryptococcus gattii, or C. gattii, a rare tropical fungus that infects the lungs of people and animals who breathe it in. The reason why C. gattii is so dangerous is that it has a 25% mortality rate, meaning that 1 in 4 people who catch it will end up dying because of it.
Even more ominously, the species is mutating, according to researcher Edmond Byrnes III of Duke University. The strain that first showed up in America in Vancouver in 1999, where it killed only 9% of all victims, has become an entirely new strain in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, where its mortality rate has increased. The symptoms of fungus infection are chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, fever, and weight loss; if left untreated, the fungus can also cause meningitis.
C. Gattii is an airborne infection, and the worst part is there’s nothing you can do to prevent yourself from catching it, besides take a lot of vitamin D. “Our best guess is that it’s mostly associated with trees and soil, so certain disturbances might allow the organism to become airborne and more or less float in the area,” said Byrnes. “There are no real precautions you can take, because it’s hard to tell which areas would be more infected or where levels of C. gattii could be higher.”
Tags: killer fungus, unusual plants, killer plants, Cryptococcus gattii, C. gattii, Pacific Northwest, tropical fungus invades the northwest, Washington, Oregon, Northern California, rare dangerous fungus found in US, invasive species
