A worldwide health alert has been issued for Vancouver Island on the temperate west coast of Canada, where a a 51-year-old Danish visitor recently contracted a rare and life-threatening tropical fungal infection.
The fungus, cryptococcus gattii, is a microscopic pathogen normally found in tropical or subtropical locales in Australia, Africa, India or South America. Many suspect that global warming has recently enabled the one-celled organism to thrive in the trees, soil, water and air along the island's east coast.
Although chances of infection are described by scientists as “extremely low,” they are still real. Fungal cells and spores are airborne and can lodge deep in the lungs, leading to pneumonia. The fungus can also attack the central nervous system and result in meningitis. The fungus was first identified on the island in 2001. As of December, 2006, 165 people had been infected and eight have died. Human cases have emerged on the mainland of British Columbia, Oregon and Washington state. Animals, household pets in particular, have been hardest hit. But the corpses of infected porpoises have also washed ashore, making this one of the world's few, true multispecies outbreaks.
Dr. Kibsey said some health officials have been “reluctant” to publicize the potential risks for fear of hurting tourism on the island, which receives more than seven million visitors a year.
Symptoms, which generally take two to nine months to develop, include night sweats, fever and chronic respiratory problems. The elderly, those taking steroids and people with lung conditions seem to be at higher risk. But the cases so far have primarily affected healthy adults and, some suspect, led to misdiagnosis.
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