OT: Fungus Blamed for Wash. Porpoise Deaths

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Fungus Blamed for Wash. Porpoise Deaths

10.06.2006, 04:13 PM

Forbes - NY,

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/10/06/ap3073206.htm

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A microscopic fungus native to Australia and blamed for the death of

people and animals in British Columbia is now linked to the deaths

of porpoises and at least one cat in Washington state.

Necropsies have that revealed cryptococcus gattii, first detected in

the region on Vancouver Island in 1999, was the cause of death in

six porpoises and a cat in the state, Washington's former public

health veterinarian, Almira Jane , told The Herald of Everett.

The cat that died and two others that were infected with the fungus

last year were in Whatcom County, which borders on British Columbia,

and the porpoises were among 25 that have died in Washington state

and British Columbia since 1999, said.

Except for a few isolated cases in animals in aquariums, doctors and

veterinarians said it was the first time the fungus, which is

invisible to the naked eye, has been documented in the United

States.

It is typically found in eucalyptus trees in the tropics of

Australia but also grows on other trees and can drift or be blown

into water as leaves dry out. Since the fungus was discovered in

Canada it has been blamed for the death at least four people, all in

British Columbia.

Dogs, llamas, ferrets, pet birds and horses also have been infected,

and authorities at the British Columbia Center for Disease Control

estimate that 25 people become sick with cryptococcus in the

province annually.

Fungal treatments are available, and medical experts do not believe

it is contagious.

" It is a rare disease here, and possibly an emerging disease, " said

, who recently became an adjunct professor at Washington State

University.

The means by which cryptococcus gattii reached North America remain

unclear. Theories include a ship, a eucalyptus tree and the bottom

of someone's shoes.

Another possibility is that the fungus was long present in British

Columbia but became a threat to animals only with warmer weather,

said A. Raverty, a veterinary pathologist with the Animal

Health Center in Abbotsford, British Columbia, just north of Sumas,

Wash.

" Part of the hypothesis is that because of increasing global

temperatures, the environmental conditions are better, " Raverty

said.

Laboratory tests indicate the fungus can reproduce in salt water,

and Raverty said porpoises likely become infected when tainted water

enters their blow holes.

Scientists are trying to determine whether the porpoises found dead

in Washington state became sick in U.S. waters or in Canada.

" It's difficult to really put this in context if there's a point

source of exposure or if there (are) multiple places where these

animals are exposed, " Raverty said. " We expect the latter, though. "

The Whatcom County cats all had different owners and apparently had

not been north of the border, said.

" We think the cats acquired the illness in Washington state, and

that would be a first, " she said.

County Health Officer Dr. H. Stern told the Everett

newspaper he has asked local doctors to test patients with prolonged

coughing, fever, severe headaches, weight loss and night sweats, all

signs of cryptococcus gattii:.

" We don't want people to be worried about it, " Stern said. " We just

want them to be prudent. If they're ill, they should get medical

treatment. Their physicians will be considering it more as a cause

of illness as we identify more cases. "