Oregon Fungus Spreading South

THE GIST:

• Dogs, cats, humans and even an alpaca have been infected with a new strain of fungus.
• So far very few people have been infected, but the fungus is evolving quickly.
• The disease is treatable, but physicians and veterinarians need to know it's out there.

A new extra virulent strain of airborne fungus which infects humans and animals alike has been found in Oregon -- and it is spreading south toward California.

The fungus, called Cryptococcus gattii, had been seen over the last decade causing outbreaks on Vancouver Island, Canada, and then spreading to mainland British Columbia and the United States.

The new Oregon strain, however, appears to be a sign that the fungus is evolving and adapting to local environments. That, in turn, suggests it's likely to spread to similar environments in northern California, Idaho and even parts of Nevada.

"We've now seen a few cases spread into southern Oregon," said researcher Edmond Byrnes of the Duke University Medical Center.

Most people infected with the fungus never develop symptoms. For those who do, the signs can appear two to several months after exposure and include a cough lasting weeks, sharp chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, fever, nighttime sweats and weight loss.

Animals with the fungus infection have runny noses, breathing problems, nervous system problems and raised bumps under the skin.

WATCH VIDEO: Superorganisms are a large group of animals working together as one. We count our top five.

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Byrnes and several colleagues have isolated the fungus from infected animals and humans in Oregon and performed "molecular barcoding" to see how the fungus strains were related to each other. What they found was a novel, unique new strain that's causing most of the infections in the area.

They published their discovery of the new "hypervirulent" Oregon strain of C. gattii in the latest issue of the journal PLoS Pathogens.

Although the fungus is known to spread through the air, the researchers so far have been unable to track it down in nature, that is, outside of the bodies of the cats, dogs, humans and even some unlucky alpacas who have become infected, said Byrnes. Other strains of the C. gattii have also been been found in elk and porpoises in Washington and British Columbia.

Because so many kinds of animals are getting infected, Byrnes and his colleagues suggest that not only physicians but veterinarians should be well informed of the symptoms so they can diagnose the disease earlier and help in isolating samples and tracking the disease.

If a physician does suspects a fungus, however, they are more likely to think of C. gattii's sibling species C. neoformans, which infects a million people each year. Unlike the new Oregon fungus, however, C. neoformans attacks mostly HIV-infected people with suppressed immune systems and causes more than 620,000 deaths annually.

Nonetheless, because C. gattii is evolving and extending its range, it needs to be closely monitored.

"It's serious and it's something we are very concerned about," said Harris. "That said, it's very, very rare."

What's more, there are ways of fighting the infections, she said.

"It's definitely a treatable disease," Harris said.