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According to “The Herald.net”, two people in Washington have died from a tropical fungus disease that has been found in British Columbia, Canada and the State of Washington in the Seattle area.

Symptoms usually appear 2 to 12 months after exposure. The symptoms mimic a cold or the flu at first. The fungus was found on Vancouver Island in 1999 and has now been found in Washington State.

The infection can be fatal if not treated but it can’t be transmitted from person to person.

You can’t tell which trees are infected by the fungus.

Here is a bulletin from the State of Washington:

Cryptococcus gattii is an environmental fungus that has been isolated from trees, soil, air, and water. Since 1999, C. gattii  has been known to occur on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, and has caused disease among residents, visitors to the island, and domestic and wild animals. The fungus has since spread to mainland British Columbia and Washington State. Unlike the closely related species C. neoformans, an opportunistic pathogen of immunocompromised hosts with other medical conditions, C. gattii  also affects immunocompetent persons who were previously healthy.  The infection is caused by breathing in the spores of the Cryptococcus fungus. It is not transmitted from person-to-person or from animal-to-person.

Reported symptoms include severe cough and shortness of breath.  There may be other symptoms such as chills, night sweats, and loss of appetite.  About a fifth of cases have meningitis.  Smoking or treatment with steroids may be risk factors for infection.  The incubation period appears to be 2 to 12 months.  Since both C. gattii and C. neoformans cause similar illnesses, special testing is needed to differentiate between C. gattii and C. neoformans.  Positive cryptococcal cultures should be sent to the Public Health Laboratories for further testing.

Cryptococcus gattii in Washington State
During 2005 three cats living in Washington near the Canadian border were diagnosed with C. gattii  by histopathology. None of the animals had exposures in Canada.  In 2006, the organism was recovered by researchers from University of British Columbia from soil samples in Whatcom County, Washington.  In addition, two Washington State residents with cryptococcal disease may have been locally exposed in 2006.  Both patients traveled during their exposure period, so out-of-state acquisition could not be ruled out.  During 2007, six human cases were reported. Four of the 2007 cases did not travel out of state during their exposure period, indicating in-state acquisition.

More information can be found at: Washington State Department of Health, and at “The Herald.net”.

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