Wow this stuff sounds serious, Apparently you get this disease, it gets in your lungs then you end up coughing up spores and infecting others. 25% death rate. Some new disease that is coming from Vancouver. I wonder how the markets will prices in this new epidemic when it spreads all over the World. Here is the map of the early spread. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/8/images/08-1384-F.gif http://health.usnews.com/health-new...airborne-fungus-may-spread-to-california.html Several people in Oregon have died after being infected with the new VGIIc genotype of Cryptococcus gattii. In the 21 Pacific Northwest cases analyzed by researchers, the strain has a death rate of about 25 percent. Symptoms. Prolonged cough (lasting weeks or months) Sputum production Sharp chest pain Unexplained shortness of breath Sinusitis (infection, cottony drainage, soreness, pressure) Severe headache (meningitis, encephalitis, meningoencephalitis) Stiff neck (prolonged and severe nuchal rigidity) Muscle soreness (mild to severe, local or diffuse) Photophobia (excessive sensitivity to light) Blurred or double vision Eye irritation (infection, soreness, redness) Focal neurological deficits Fever (delirium, hallucinations) Confusion (abnormal behavior changes, inappropriate mood swings) Seizures Asystole Dizziness Night sweats Unintended weight loss Nausea (with or without vomiting) Skin lesions (rashes, scaling, plaques, papules, nodules, blisters, subcutaneous tumors or ulcers) Lethargy Apathy Psychosis
Sounds scary but a 25% death rate means that it's quite treatable. I'd bet a large number of those that died probably waited too long after initial onset of symptoms. Something that's really scary are the drug-resistant strains of gram-negative bacteria. The one drug that "occasionally" works against them, Colistin, will most likely destroy your kidneys in the process. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/dailydose/02/20/gram.negative.bacteria/index.html
"More than a million people are exposed to the spore annually in B.C., and there have been only 120 reported case of serious illness in the past nine years. "There is relatively widespread [human] exposure," Raverty said, "but relatively few come down with the clinical disease and ultimately die."" (100 mg orally once daily; Sporanox, Janssen)