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.