Plant Fungus Infects Human in First Reported Case of Its Kind
Plant Fungus Infects Human in First Reported Case of Its Kind
In what researchers suggest is the first reported case of its kind, a 61-year-old Indian mycologist appears to have contracted a rather serious case of silver leaf disease in his own throat, providing a rare example of a pathogen seemingly making an enormous leap across entire kingdoms in the tree of life.
While bacterial species of superbug and novel viruses emerging from animal populations regularly get our attention, we rarely give much thought to plant diseases in our midst.
It's unlikely we'll ever know why such a chance infection took root in the first place, and it remains unknown if we'll see its like again.
I imagine how that person would feel, horrible feeling he must feel
Great point. It must not have been a good feeling. Glad he fully recovered.
Thanks for the link. That was really bizarre! We had an article on the topic from @sarahjay1 in Popular STEM, too. India: First reported case of human infected with a fungal plant parasite
I just heard about an episode of Grey's Anatomy where somebody had "a tree growing inside their lungs". Apparently, it was based on something real.
Similar to this, but that was an actual tree apparently. From the brief summary I read, it was a 2-inch growth in a man's lung in Russia that was first thought to be a tumor.
Organisms are weird.