Don't buy this kind of fertilizer online to grow plants! Some people got seriously ill and almost died because of it

They accidentally came into contact with the feces of these animals, and soon after, their health began to deteriorate rapidly.

Ken thought he was just struck by the flu after initially experiencing only a cough and general weakness. But soon after, Ken developed more serious symptoms. He developed a high fever, began to lose his appetite, and his breathing became more difficult. After a week of this, Ken realized that he might be suffering from a more serious illness, so he went to the hospital.

The doctors thought Ken had bacterial pneumonia, but they couldn't find the cause of his illness after trying various methods. As a last resort, they recommended Ken to go to another hospital. The doctor at the second hospital checked Ken's blood and urine and found that he was probably infected with a fungus called Histoplasma capsulatum, which often appears in places with bird and bat droppings. Ken recalled that he had helped a friend renovate an old house, which was particularly smelly and had a lot of bird and bat droppings.

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Bat droppings

If Ken's fate was a result of negligence, the other two patients may have intentionally introduced the fungus into their homes, and they paid the price for it. The two patients, who lived in Rochester, New York, wanted to use bat droppings to grow plants whose flowers and leaves contained addictive substances, according to a study published in December in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

One of the 59-year-old patients had severe symptoms when he was admitted to the hospital. He had lost a lot of weight, and developed cachexia and sepsis. After examining him, the doctor found that Streptococcus pneumoniae had caused bacteremia in his body. His lungs and throat were found to be infected with Histoplasma capsulatum.

According to the patient, he had bought bat droppings from an online store to use as fertilizer for the plant, and denied any other possible exposure to pathogens. This fungus rarely threatens healthy people, generally causing only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. The patient was infected largely because he had a pre-existing lung disease - emphysema, and he was also taking a drug that restricts the immune system for rheumatoid arthritis. The patient eventually died of respiratory failure.

According to the paper, in the United States, many media outlets promote bat droppings as a "natural superfood" for plants because they are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and organic compounds, which may prompt many people to buy this fertilizer. Some people even pick up natural bat droppings without any protection, just like the second case in the article.

The 64-year-old man had a lot of bat droppings in the attic of his home, and he had been there many times, wanting to collect bat droppings to use as fertilizer for the plant . But he didn't expect that the arrival of death would prevent him from realizing this idea.

The patient already had severe peripheral arterial disease. After being admitted to the hospital, doctors found signs of Histoplasma capsulatum infection in his lungs, pancreas and adrenal tissue . Although the patient was discharged smoothly after taking some antifungal drugs, he was admitted to the hospital again due to abdominal pain not long after, and eventually died of intestinal bleeding. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with weak immune systems may not be able to fully resist Histoplasma capsulatum after the first infection, even if they feel much better afterwards. This fungus can hide in the human body for months or years and cause symptoms again.

Moreover, this fungal infection is not easy to diagnose - judging from the symptoms of the disease alone, it is easy to confuse it with symptoms caused by other pathogens and cancer. Capsular Histoplasma is a soil saprophyte, and bird and bat droppings that fall into the soil and other environments provide an ideal growth and reproduction environment for Histoplasma. Once people come into contact with these droppings and inhale the spores produced by them, they may become infected.

Previously, the infection was very rare, but due to climate change, population mobility and the increase in the number of people with weak immunity, the infection rate of this fungus is increasing. In addition to miners and geologists who often spend time in the wild, this fungus mainly threatens people who like cave exploration and bird lovers.

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Harmful fungi

There are more than 100,000 species of fungi living in the soil environment. We eat some of these fungi as fruiting bodies, which are organs that produce and spread spores, such as oyster mushrooms and truffles. However, for others, if we inhale the spores they spread, we may become infected, as in the case of Histoplasma capsulatum.

According to a recent report in Science news, Valley fever, caused by a fungus called Coccidioides, which lives in the soil, is spreading due to climate change. Outbreaks of this fungal infection often occur during periods of alternating hot and dry weather and lots of rain.

Some people experience flu-like symptoms for weeks or months after breathing in the spores of the fungus. The spores grow in their warm, moist lungs, forming a ball. Soon after, the ball ruptures, releasing a large number of tiny endospores . These endospores then grow new balls, and the cycle continues.

In some people, Coccidioides fungi develop into small balls

Previous studies have shown that a small number of people will recover quickly after receiving antifungal treatment, but 5% to 10% of people will develop lifelong lung infections due to infection and need to take antifungal drugs all the time. The fungus may also spread further in their bodies, attacking bones, joints or skin, and even causing meningitis . The fungus was previously mainly distributed in parts of the United States and Mexico, but with climate change, this pathogenic fungus is expanding further.

Another pathogenic fungus that deserves attention is Candida auris, which is widely prevalent worldwide and commonly known as the "super fungus." According to a study published in Emerging Microbes & Infections by researchers from Fudan University and other institutions on January 18 last year, the prevalence of this fungus in my country is becoming increasingly severe. From 2018 to 2023, the number of cases caused by this fungus has increased rapidly, and it has shown obvious resistance to a common antifungal drug.

References

[1]https://www.science.org/content/article/climate-change-may-be-driving-spread-deadly-fungus-us-southwest

[2]https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/11/12/ofae711/7917418?login=false#google_vignette

[3]https://www.cdc.gov/histoplasmosis/prevention/index.html

[4]https://www.cdc.gov/histoplasmosis/stories/kens-story-histoplasmosis.html

[5]https://www.livescience.com/health/viruses-infections-disease/bat-poop-used-to-grow-cannabis-kills-2-in-new-york-in-unusual-cases

[6]https://cannabis.ny.gov/marihuana-regulation-and-taxation-act-mrta

Planning and production

Source: Global Science (ID: huanqiuekexue)

Editor: Zhong Yanping

Proofread by Xu Lailinlin