Vancouver Island rises abruptly out of the Pacific, a green seductress tempting nature lovers with long, sandy curves and the ocean shimmering at her hemline. But word has spread that something sinister grows here. Invisible to the naked eye, it lives on the trees, in the soil, the water and, at times, dances in mid-air. It has struck islanders in unprecedented numbers over the past eight years, infecting those who have walked in the woods or done nothing riskier than breathe.
Where has it come from? It was supposed to be a native of the tropics and subtropics, at home in Australia's wilderness or the jungles of Papua New Guinea. No medical book had ever described its presence north of California. Some guessed it came to B.C. by way of an imported eucalyptus tree, or blew in on the warm Pacific wind of the Pineapple Express. Whatever it was, health authorities initially took the outbreak of Cryptococcus gattii for a blip that would quickly wither.
They were wrong. The life-threatening tropical fungus has entrenched itself on Vancouver Island's east coast, sickening humans and animals — cats, dogs, pet birds, llamas, ferrets, horses and the prized Dall's porpoise. For a pathogen never expected in this corner of the world, the C. gattii strain in B.C. is flourishing at a rate at least 30 times more infectious than any other on the planet.
For five years, B.C. experts, in collaboration with scientists from Australia, the United States and the Netherlands, have been investigating its surprising emergence on Vancouver Island, uncovering intriguing clues along the way. Strains similar to the one behind the B.C. outbreak have been spotted before — on trees in Brazil, in a wasp's nest in Uruguay and a sick goat in Aruba. Still, no one can say exactly where the Vancouver Island fungus came from, or how. But what they do say is that climate change likely plays a lead role in the C. gattii story — that a string of mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers set the stage for its disturbing debut.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070209.wfungalfears0210/BNStory/Front
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