report of human infection by plant fungus

Doctors in India have recorded the first known case of a human becoming infected by a plant fungus that is usually found in trees. Chondrostereum purpureum, which is more commonly known as silverleaf fungus, is a disease that affects species of roses and turns their leaves a silvery color before killing branches or even the whole plant. However, it now appears that the fungus can also infect humans, after a 61-year-old man from eastern India was admitted to hospital with a range of symptoms that had been bothering him for three months. After performing an X-ray of the patient’s chest, doctors failed to identify the issue, but a CT scan of the man’s neck revealed an abscess, which was tested and eventually identified as silverleaf fungus. It is not clear how the Indian man became infected with the fungus, but he had worked with decaying materials, mushrooms, and other plant fungi in the course of his research.

Doctors completely drained the abscess and treated the infection with antifungal The man has since been discharged from hospital and there is no sign of recurrence, according to the researchers. However, they raised concerns about the potential of the silverleaf fungus, as well as other strains, to cause illness in people. They explained that only a few hundred fungi are able to infect humans and animals, and that if the fungi can escape the phagocytosis pathway and is able to evade the host immune system, then they can establish themselves as human pathogens. Additionally, the researchers warned that multiple new pathogenic fungi and zoonotic viral and bacterial diseases have been discovered in the past several decades due to global warming, alteration of ecosystems, international travel, and unplanned urbanization.