Exported Deadly Fungus Across The World - Inside His Lungs

Sometimes-lethal fungus found on Canada's W. Coast

02.13.2007


A tropical and potentially lethal fungus that has mysteriously made a home on Canada's temperate West Coast has prompted foreign medical experts to issue a worldwide alert to doctors and tourists.

The warning comes after a 51-year-old Danish visitor contracted the rare and life-threatening fungal infection on Vancouver Island. In the January issue of the Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, published monthly by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doctors in Denmark — who eventually found clumps of the fungus growing in the man's chest — have cited the island as a potential health risk to travelers.

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Deadly fungus prompts B.C. travel alert

February 13, 2007


While chances of contracting C. gattii remain low, the airborne cells and spores can lodge deep in the lungs, leading to pneumonia. The fungus can also attack the central nervous system and result in meningitis.

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The fungus also has infected dogs, llamas, ferrets, pet birds and horses, and the corpses of infected porpoises have washed ashore, making this one of the world's few, true multispecies outbreaks.

Human cases have emerged on the B.C. mainland and in Oregon and Washington state.

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