The very first case in which a human was attacked by a deadly plant fungus

In a world first case, an Indian mushroom hunter caught a fungal disease that is deadly for plants.

The healthy 61-year-old from Kolkata had been suffering from flu-like symptoms and difficulty swallowing for three months, baffling doctors.

The scan showed he had an abscess in his windpipe.

Surgeons drained the pus and sent samples to a lab, which revealed he had chondrostereum purpureum.

The fungus causes silver leaf disease in plants, which is spread by airborne spores, turning the plants’ leaves metallic in color before slowly killing them.

He is believed to have contracted the disease while doing research as a plant mycologist working directly with moulds, yeasts and fungi.

The unnamed man had a long history of working with “rotting material, fungi, and various plant fungi,” according to doctors who treated him.

The case “raises serious questions” because it proves the infection can affect both “healthy and immunocompromised individuals,” they warned.

In the journal Medical Mycology Case Reports, medics from consultant Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals said the patient came to the hospital complaining of a recurring cough, hoarseness and fatigue that he had been unable to shake for three months.

The man, who had no underlying medical conditions that put him at risk, also had trouble swallowing and a sore throat.

The date of the incident was not revealed in the case report.

On examination, the man’s chest x-rays were “normal.”

However, CT results showed the man had a paratracheal abscess in his neck.

Such abscesses can prove fatal if not recognized and treated promptly, as they can block the airways and lead to life-threatening infections.

Typically, it’s treated with antibiotics and surgery to drain it.

After the pus was completely drained and sent to the World Health Organization’s collaborating center in northern India for testing, the man was given two cycles of antibiotics over two months.

Researchers there identified the disease as chondrostereum purpureum.

So far, there has been no evidence that any particular type of fungus could infect humans, the researchers said.

The man was free of the disease two years later, doctors confirmed.

Among the millions of fungi found in the environment, only a few hundred fungi are currently capable of infecting humans and animals.

“Several new pathogenic fungi have emerged in recent decades,” the scientists said.

Worsening global warming will also “open a Pandora’s box for newer fungal diseases,” they added.

Rising temperatures accelerate the number of mutations occurring in fungi, which could increase drug resistance and make them better adapted to survive in the human body.

It comes as US health officials last week issued a warning about the fungus Candida auris, noting that the disease, which can kill up to 60 percent of people, has tripled in recent years and has become multi-drug resistant.

Concerns about the threat of fungi were spotlighted by the hit US television show The Last of US, watched by tens of millions of people worldwide.

It sees people who contract a fugus called Cordyceps turn into zombies.

Currently, the fungus can only infect insects such as ants. But its effects have been described as zombie-like, with Cordyceps growing out of its host’s body and controlling its behavior.