A Daily Star report says the next pandemic “could be a deadly fungus” that causes swelling of the brain and festering boils on the skin.
According to an expert, after the tragic deaths of two people in the United States, a wave of fungal infections may arise that cause people to stop breathing and cerebral swelling.
While it may not turn people into the flesh-eating zombies we saw in HBO's The Last of Us, a fungal “pandemic” could become a scenario worth watching in the coming years. CDC fungal expert Dr. Ian Hennessy said Blastomyces fungi are one of his most pressing concerns right now.
Dr Hennessy says: “We urge people to take fungal infections seriously. They are not uncommon, but when people do get sick, they are often misdiagnosed and mistreated by clinicians. And this can cause a really serious disease, which can develop into an epidemic. “The Last of Us brought the issue of fungal diseases to the forefront.”
Different types of fungi thrive in warmer temperatures and wetter conditions, meaning climate change is helping to make the threat of widespread disease even more real.
Dr Hennessy told the Mail: “As we see environmental conditions changing, we are concerned about changes in the distribution or even the impact of some of these fungal diseases, not just blastomycosis but some others too, like histoplasmosis and the like.”
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