The Telegraph reports that a 61-year-old man has become the first person in the world to contract a plant pathogen, amid growing concerns about the threat they pose due to climate change and their potential resistance to existing treatments.
The unnamed man was a plant mycologist. He visited a hospital in Kolkata, Eastern India, after experiencing a hoarse voice, cough, fatigue, and difficulty swallowing for three months.
Tests revealed that the man had an abscess near the trachea in his neck. When samples of the pus were sent for analysis, it was discovered that he was infected with Chondrostereum purpureum – a fungus that causes leaf blight in plants.
It is believed that the man was exposed to this fungus while conducting his research. (Photo: The Telegraph).
The plant mycologist fully recovered after taking two antifungal medications for two months. However, the infection alarmed public health experts since it was previously thought that fungal spores in plants could not infect humans.
“He has no history of diabetes, HIV, kidney disease, or any chronic illnesses. He also does not take immunosuppressive drugs or have any injuries. The patient is a professional mycologist who has worked with decaying materials, fungi, and various plant fungi for an extended period,” stated a study published in Medical Mycology Case Reports discussing the symptoms the man experienced.
Many believe the patient was exposed to this fungus while conducting his research.
Epidemiologist Ramanan Laxminarayan noted: “The world has hundreds of millions of fungal species, and only a small fraction cause infections in humans. However, we are beginning to see this strange phenomenon of fungal infections that previously did not infect humans now causing infections.“
Millions of fungal infections exist, but scientists have only identified about 150,000 types. A few of these can survive in the human body, such as Cryptococcus and Aspergillus, which can cause pneumonia-like symptoms.
The mycologist from India has become the first person in the world infected with Chondrostereum purpureum, a fungus that causes leaf blight in plants. (Photo: Jiri Kamenicek).
According to the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections, 300 million people are affected by serious fungal pathogens each year, leading to 1.6 million deaths.
The pandemic has also exacerbated this threat. In 2021, at least 45,000 people in India who had contracted Covid-19 developed secondary fungal infections known as Mucormycosis (commonly referred to as black fungus), resulting in over 4,500 deaths.
The coronavirus pandemic has diverted resources away from researching and treating lesser-known fungal pathogens. From 2019 to 2021, cases of Candida auris infections, which can invade the bloodstream and central nervous system, tripled in the U.S., rising from 476 to 1,471 cases.
Fungal infections are expected to pose a greater threat to humans in the coming years due to the increasing drug resistance of the small number of available treatments and the rising temperatures caused by climate change.
Warmer temperatures allow fungi to adapt more easily to survive in the human body. Fungal infections can now spread to new geographic areas.
