Silent but Deadly

 

A rare fungal disease once thought to be almost completely contained to tropical regions of the world is making an appearance in the United States, and not where you might think. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is reporting that as of this past June, there have been 171 cases of humans becoming infected by the Cryptococcus gatti fungus since it was first discovered in Washington and Oregon back in 2004. But those states only account for about 100 of the cases. Infections have also been found in people from California, Georgia, New Mexico, Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan and Montana. There have only been six deaths since 2009 caused by the fungus, so the CDC isn't raising the alarm just yet. Fungal disease expert Julie Harris says, "It is really, really rare. Very few people get infected by this. You can still go outside and do ou daily activities." Of those who actually do become infected, almost all of them have inhaled airborne spores from the fungus, a chilling fact to a person who plays certain video games like I do. In a recent release from Naughty Dog Studios, The Last of US, portrays the life of the main character in a post-apocoplytic United States where an airborne fungus infects humans slowly before altering their bodies into zombie-like creatures. This certainly isn't happening here, but the facts for the game were based on another real fungus that can infect and alter insects in such a way. The worst part about this new fungus is that perfectly healthy people can become infected and die before even knowing they have it, which just goes to show that when it comes to hazards, sometimes the worst can come in small, almost undetectable packages.

What's That Smell?

A local removing dead fish from the Fuhe river in Wuhan, a province in central China.

 On September 2nd, dead fish began popping up in the Fuhe river by not hundreds, not thousands, but hundreds of thousands of pounds. A little of 200,000 to be more precise. Authorites in the area are reporting that about 220,000 pounds of dead fish have been removed from the river due to poisioning they believe was caused by ammonia coming from a local chemical plant. The company at fault, Hubei Shuanghuan Science and Technology Stock, did not immediately wish to comment on a drain outlet that was found to be releasing the ammonia in a way that "far exceedd the national standard." This is a tough situation for the small fishing community nearby, Huanghualao, which has about 1,600 residents that make their living from fishing the river. The village's secretary said "The dead fish covered the entire river and looked like snowflakes," and that the roughly 150 fishing boats that utiluize the area could be losing in upwards of 70,000 yuan per day. That is about $11,400 U.S. Dollars, but to a small community like this, that is a big blow. The company has been shut down until the problem is rectified, and thankfully it does not appear that the drinking water supp;y was affected. 

This story is a perfect example of how when it comes to environmental hazards, sometimes humans can be their own worst enemy. Situations like this can be avoided with tougher industry laws and better enforcement of those laws, but in an area like China where economic and industrial growth is happening at an amazing rate, it can be very difficult to achieve this. I can only hope that one day we all can see the errors of our ways and stop these things from happening before we pollute the Earth to a point where it can't be saved.

http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/poisoned-fish-china-20130905