Friday, April 23, 2010

Return Of The Friday Fungus! Beware!


The following is from a piece by C. Choi that was posted yesterday on MSNBC's web page:

"A deadly, airborne new strain of fungus has emerged in Oregon. It has killed nearly one out of four known affected people so far and might also attack animals ranging from dogs to dolphins. And it is likely to spread, researchers now warn.

The new strain known as VGIIc of the fungus Cryptococcus gattii not only targets humans but has also proven capable of infecting dogs, cats, alpacas, sheep and elk. Other strains have even infected porpoises.

Although it can spread to mammals, it does not jump from animal to animal. Instead, people and other animals get it from inhaling spores released by samples of the fungus that infect trees."

Now that H1N1 is fading a bit, something else is looming on the horizon. This image is credited to Duke U. researchers E. Byrnes and J. Heitman

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