Deadly Airborne Fungus in Oregon

Not trying to be alarmist, but wanted to make everybody aware of the symptoms. This fungus is airborne and can affect healthy humans and animals. It's currently in Oregon and will be spreading to other states in the Pacific Northwest.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36722426/ns/health-infectious_diseases/#storyContinued

Aaaaaaaaaack. o.0

Wow, that is really scary!

Some of the stuff coming around these days makes one wonder. Are we headed for some sort of plague that will wipe out a large portion of the population? Is this nature's way of getting the earth's population under control? Or is it merely a response to all our medications that viruses continue to get stronger in order to survive?

At any rate, it is very scary. I have an acquaintance that nearly died from the swine flu virus and was hospitalized and in a coma for over a month earlier this year. Docs said she was very lucky and most who had her complications would not have made it.

And a few years back when another bad virus was going around, I forget which one, a woman who worked for the same company as I did at the time picked it up on an airplane, came home and promptly died. One moment she was posting on her computer that she didn't feel well but was getting better, and the next we heard she had died. It was really shocking.

What a drag that this has originated in the PNW. If it was elsewhere in the world, I could largely ignore it....

I heard another piece on NPR this morning. This is a fungus that's typically seen in the southern hemisphere. There's some concern that the appearance of this is due to climate change/global warming.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126198896

I think it's the job of the environment to try to weed us out in order to protect the species by assuring that only the strongest among us survive. We have fought that tooth and nail with our medical thechnologies. So the pathogens have to continue to come up with different stuff.

Most people affected have 'lived near a wooded area or been involved in activities that disturb the soil." Well, heck, that's everyone up here in the Pac NW.

Yeah, exactly. Good point, rockems.

all the symptoms are the same as my medication.... how would I know lol. And its spring all of us have been out in dirt and gardens. My prayers go out to everyone hope we all stay safe

This message was edited May 26, 2010 10:12 AM

ROFL.

We've had 3 people that I've heard of on Whidbey who have been sick enough with the right symptoms that they've been tested. One is an acquaintance of mine. All 3 tested negative.

I have a good friend who's coming home this week from a month away for a stem cell transplant. He can't touch dirt (and just about everything else you can think of) for a year.

I'm glad that it's on the doctors' radar so they can at least rule it out. I think they irradiate people pretty severely to reduce the risk of organ rejection before they do an organ or stem cell transplant. It really whacks out their immune systems. I hope his tranplant worked well for him. Isn't it a miracle that the immune system will kick back in?

Oh, yeah, they completely irradiate everything. It takes a year before the immune system is 100% functional again. Then he has to redo all his childhood vaccinations!

He cannot shake hands or hug people. I believe there are certain things he can't eat. It's amazing the list of can'ts and don'ts he has.