Comments on: Killer Yeast from South America(?)

By: Jennifer Frazer

Jennifer Frazer — Wed, 26 May 2010 02:15:14 +0000

The study said "a male Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin in San Diego", and linked to this paper.This Washington Post article talks about the previous, less virulent form of the disease, and has lots of great details. It says in 2007 over two dozen local porpoises had died around Vancouver Island and suggests they got it by breathing in spores carried over the water. Actually, if you've made it this far, I highly recommend reading the WaPo article -- quite revealing regarding the human face of the disease and the climate change angles.

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:53:45 +0000

Wow! Thanks for such an informative post about such an unusual topic. I have to go off now and process this information. The world seems like a different place all of the sudden, infectious yeast, tree jellyfish, sexual types, fungus turning into yeast, and brain resectioning! Yikes! That dolphins and hikers in the Pacific Northwest are both falling victim to this is crazy and disturbing in a way that brings home how little we know about the world around us. Do you know what kind of dolphins they are or if it is more than one kind, or where the infected dolphins lived?

By: Jennifer Frazer

Jennifer Frazer — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:34:25 +0000

Well, some of them look more like jellyfish than others. : ) I think it's more the texture than anything -- jelly fungi are wonderful to pet, and they have this fantastic slippery rubbery feel that is very similar (I imagine) to jellyfish texture. But if you check out this photo of a wood ear, you might see a passing resemblance to a tree jellyfish, sans tentacles.

By: Warren

Warren — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:28:07 +0000

Wow. This was super informative.

But the tree-jellyfish thing looks like a “tree jelly-bean”. Or rather, a platter of jelly beans that was left out in the sun for too long.

Yummy information. Thanks.

By: kati

kati — Tue, 25 May 2010 04:30:14 +0000

yes, slime molds! :)

as a native pacnw-er, i’d guess we’ve always had more fungi, etc, than OK and we are still surviving! except for those unlucky 200 or so but still… ;)

By: Jennifer Frazer

Jennifer Frazer — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:28:49 +0000

Although it is a bit alarming, I wouldn’t get too worried about a jelly fungus taking over the planet . . . yet. : ) Numerically, cancer, heart disease, influenza, AIDS, syphillis, etc. are still far bigger killers. But it is creepy knowing that anyone who spends time in the woods in the Pacific Northwest is potentially susceptible (although the odds still seem pretty low — only 200 people have been seriously affected and 24 killed in 10 years), and there’s absolutely no known way to prevent infection.

And certainly, if parts of the country continue to get warmer and wetter, molds and fungi are going to have it easier, and not just in our homes and in the forest — on our crops and livestock too. Anyhow, if I had to pick an invertebrate that I thought was actually going to take over the world, it’d be jellyfish and comb jellies. Together, they seem to be taking over the vast ocean voids we’ve left behind by removing all the fish. Oh, and slime molds. Slime molds have long been plotting to take over (see Spinal Tap Director’s Cut and upper right corner of this page).

By: Tweets that mention Killer Yeast from South America(?) -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Killer Yeast from South America(?) -- Topsy.com — Mon, 24 May 2010 08:42:30 +0000

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By: cgauthier

cgauthier — Mon, 24 May 2010 06:21:30 +0000

This is terrifying. As you say, infection is still rare, but, I’ve read elsewhere that a general increase in fungal fecundity is expected in wetter areas as the globe warms. The past few years, here, in Oklahoma, have been wetter and warmer and, sure enough, I see way more mushrooms and molds than I used to and in stranger and stranger places. This isn’t a big problem yet, but I have (hopefully) another half-century or so in this life. I would just as soon die tomorrow in a car wreck than live to see civilization choked to death by jelly mold.