Australian Fungus Linked To Porpoise, Cat Deaths In Pacific NW - ENN

[hatrack]

EVERETT, Wash. -- A microscopic fungus native to Australia and blamed for the death of people and animals in British Columbia is now linked to the deaths of porpoises and at least one cat in Washington state. Necropsies have that revealed cryptococcus gattii, first detected in the region on Vancouver Island in 1999, was the cause of death in six porpoises and a cat in the state, Washington's former public health veterinarian, Almira Jane Leslie, told The Herald of Everett.

The cat that died and two others that were infected with the fungus last year were in Whatcom County, which borders on British Columbia, and the porpoises were among 25 that have died in Washington state and British Columbia since 1999, Leslie said. Except for a few isolated cases in animals in aquariums, doctors and veterinarians said it was the first time the fungus, which is invisible to the naked eye, has been documented in the United States.

It is typically found in eucalyptus trees in the tropics of Australia but also grows on other trees and can drift or be blown into water as leaves dry out. Since the fungus was discovered in Canada it has been blamed for the death at least four people, all in British Columbia. Dogs, llamas, ferrets, pet birds and horses also have been infected, and authorities at the British Columbia Center for Disease Control estimate that 25 people become sick with cryptococcus in the province annually.

Fungal treatments are available, and medical experts do not believe it is contagious. "It is a rare disease here, and possibly an emerging disease," said Leslie, who recently became an adjunct professor at Washington State University.

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11409

[kestrel91316]

1. Cryptococcus is occasionally seen here in SoCal in the cat

population. We have known about this new species, C. gattii, for several months. Cryptococcosis is never a good disease for a cat to get. Now we have another strain of it to cause problems. Oh, well.............

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