Man's hoarse voice was due to plant fungus disease leaving him unable to swallow
A mushroom hunter has become the first person ever infected by a plant fungus disease.
The 61-year-old Indian man was left with flu-like symptoms and couldn't swallow for three months.
After performing scans, doctors found he had an abscess in his windpipe and in a follow-up operation they drained the pus before sending samples to a lab.
The results revealed he had caught chondrostereum purpureum - which causes a silver leaf disease in plants.
The disease, which is spread through airborne spores, slowly kills the plants while turning their leaves a metallic colour.
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It's believed that he contracted the illness while working as a mycologist - a fungi specialist.
The role involves working closely with "decaying material" mushrooms, moulds and yeast, which doctors said he'd been doing for a "long time".
An abscess was found in his windpipe (sciencedirect.com)The case has raised "serious questions" in the medical community as it shows the infection can affect "healthy as well as immunocompromised individuals".
Medics at Consultant Apollo Multispeciality Hospitals said the patient showed up with a persistent cough, hoarse voice and fatigue - which he said had been continuous for three months, the Medical Mycology Case Reports has shared.
The man had no underlying conditions, according to the report.
Doctors initially expected the illness to have been caused by a chest condition, but an X-ray returned as "normal".
A CT scan showed the abscess - which can prove fatal - lodged inside his neck.
The abscess is so deadly because if it's not treated quickly, it can obstruct the airway and cause infections.
Usually medics administer antifungal drugs and drain it during surgery.
It turns leaves silver before killing the plant (Getty Images/iStockphoto)The pus was then sent to the World Health Organisation's offices in northern India and came back as being caused by chondrostereum purpureum - a global first.
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Before this case, the disease wasn't thought to affect humans.
Though there are millions types of fungi in the environment, most are harmless to humans.
"Over the past several decades multiple new pathogenic fungi have emerged," the scientists said.
The man was treated over a number of months and eventually fully discharged when recovered.
Medics wrote: "The infection was treated with complete drainage of the pus followed by oral voriconazole 400g twice daily on day 1 followed by. 200mg twice daily for total 60 days. After two years of follow-up, the main patient was absolutely fine and there is no evidence of recurrence."
And the current environmental crisis could worsen matters as global warming could "open Pandora's Box for newer fungal diseases".
Just last week, US health agencies warned the public of the Candida Auris fungus, which has a mortality rate of up to 60 per cent.
It has also become all the more resistant to antifungal drugs.
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