Fungus

As if Joplin residents didn't have enough problems in the wake of last month's tornado that destroyed large segments of the town, a physician in the Missouri community says that some of the survivors are confronting a potentially lethal fungus infection. At least nine survivors of the tornado have contracted the infections, and a third of them have died -- although it is not clear if the fungus is the cause of death -- Dr. Uwe Schmidt of the Freeman Health System told the Springfield News-Leader.

Nearly 14% of orange juice imported to the U.S. since early this month has been seized by the Food and Drug Administration because it contained trace amounts of a fungicide, carbendazim, according to the agency. FDA officials said the juice was safe to drink but that carbendazim, used to combat a fungus that leaves black spots on tree leaves, was not allowed in the U.S. "We don't feel that this is a safety problem," FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said. "This is more of a regulatory issue.

For more than 20 years, I was plagued with dry, flaky skin on the side of my nose and behind my earlobes. I went to several doctors, including dermatologists. We tried various salves, to no avail. I wondered if this ailment was caused by a fungus. As a chemist, I know that iodine is very effective on fungus. I applied tincture of iodine with my fingers (every two days for a week) and got cured within a week. It's been two months, and the spots have not returned. I previously had success treating toenail fungus with iodine.

Federal researchers say an infectious and lethal cold-loving fungus sweeping through parts of North America and Canada has killed millions more bats over the last five years than previously estimated. The rapidly spreading fungus responsible for white-nose syndrome is now believed to have killed 5.7 million to 6.7 million bats, a count several times higher than earlier estimates, across 16 states as far west as Oklahoma. The fungus, which scientists know as Geomyces destructans, seems to prefer the 25 species of hibernating bats.

A potentially lethal fungus normally found only in the tropics has established a foothold on the Pacific Coast of British Columbia and has slowly made its way southward into Washington, Oregon and Idaho, researchers said Thursday. Health authorities are not unduly alarmed by the fungus because the number of cases so far remains small, but both federal and state officials — including those in California — are monitoring its progress in the fear that it will spread more rapidly as it reaches warmer climates.

More than 100 hibernating bats hang from the vaulted ceiling of a chilly gallery in central New Mexico's Fort Stanton Cave, seemingly unaware of the lights from helmet lanterns sweeping over their gargoyle-like faces. The mood is heavy with anxiety as biologists Marikay Ramsey and Debbie Buecher search for signs of white-nose syndrome, a novel, infectious and lethal cold-loving fungus that digests the skin and wings of hibernating bats and smudges their muzzles with a powdery white growth.

[CRYPTOPORUS VOLVATUS] Not long after a pine tree dies, especially if it has been burned in a forest fire or killed by beetles, its surface may take on a blistered appearance as dozens of curiously shaped "puffball mushrooms" sprout from the bark. Because the shiny, lacquered outer surface hides a mysterious inner chamber, this fungus (technically a polypore) is also called pouch fungus and veiled polypore.

On an elementary school playground, "algae" and "fungus" are shorthand for anything yucky. By the time the kids grow up, though, they may find they've changed their minds. They may fall in love with mushrooms and end up paying stupendous amounts for a particular subterranean fungus called the truffle. None of the algae is as popular as these famous fungi, but we eat quite a bit of seaweed anyway, and seaweeds are just gigantic algae. We eat seaweed quite knowingly in sushi restaurants ("Yucko!"

Opium production in Afghanistan this year plunged by nearly half from 2009 levels, the United Nations said in a report Thursday. But the steep drop was attributed to a fungus that wreaked havoc on the poppy crop, not to Western anti-narcotics efforts. The scarcity dramatically drove up prices so much that officials fear poppy cultivation will prove an irresistible option in the coming year for farmers whom authorities are trying to entice to grow legal crops. And despite the blight, the premium prices probably put about as much drug money into the insurgency's coffers as previously.

Kings County supervisors have declared a local agriculture emergency after a fungus has damaged the county's wheat crop. The fungus, called stripe rust, has caused $5.5 million in damage to an estimated 19,000 acres of this spring's crop, said Tim Niswander, Kings County's acting agriculture supervisor. The county's 247 wheat farmers who suffered financial losses may be able to apply for low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the emergency declaration.

Miles Young strode down a narrow passageway in a bustling Chinatown fish market, methodically scanning aquariums and plastic bins filled with hundreds of live frogs selling for $3.99 a pound. They were imported from frog farms in Taiwan, the environmental activist and former game warden said. The species is particularly susceptible to a skin fungus linked to vanishing amphibians around the world. And the conditions in which bullfrogs are raised, transported and sold are ideal breeding grounds for the fungus and its waterborne zoospores.

For nearly 200 years, the plane trees have stood sentry over the Canal du Midi. Some rise ramrod-straight and proud over Europe's oldest man-made waterway. Others lean like creaky old men, forming an impenetrable canopy over the dappled, barely moving water below. Their shade protects travelers from the relentless Midi sun. Their roots hold up the canal's banks. Their hardy leaves sink to the bottom and stop the water from seeping into the soil. Perhaps just as important, they transform a utilitarian artery into a thing of natural beauty.

Some survivors of last month's massive tornado that destroyed much of Joplin, Mo., are facing another indignity: an outbreak of a rare but frequently lethal fungal infection. Eight people have been confirmed to have the infection, known as murcomycosis, and at least three have died, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Health authorities fear other tornado victims may also be infected without realizing it. "People who have wounds that are not improving should seek medical attention immediately," said Dr. Benjamin Park, a medical officer in the mycotic disease branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which monitors outbreaks of fungal infections.

As if Joplin residents didn't have enough problems in the wake of last month's tornado that destroyed large segments of the town, a physician in the Missouri community says that some of the survivors are confronting a potentially lethal fungus infection. At least nine survivors of the tornado have contracted the infections, and a third of them have died -- although it is not clear if the fungus is the cause of death -- Dr. Uwe Schmidt of the Freeman Health System told the Springfield News-Leader.

Around the world, frogs, salamanders and other amphibians are disappearing — and much about their demise has been a mystery. Now, in an episode of amphibian CSI, biologists have used decades-old museum samples of frogs, toads and salamanders to track the relentless path of a killer fungus across Mexico and Central America over the last 40 years. The findings, published online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, strongly link the amphibians' disappearance to the fungus and suggest that the disease was an alien invader rather than a native disease let loose by climate change.

Over the last few decades the intelligent thriller has become an oxymoron. The thriller aspect of many of these books has eclipsed the intelligent narrative. However, "Spiral" by Paul McEuen represents a return to form. McEuen, a physics professor at Cornell University and a first-time novelist, does a fine job of braiding science, story and suspense to create an engaging and fast-paced novel. The prologue is set in 1946 when Liam Connor, a young Irish biology prodigy in the Royal Navy, is dispatched to a U.S. vessel in the Pacific after a group of sailors aboard another ship contracted a lethal fungal virus.

Question: I have a 1986 Toyota Cressida that I bought new. I have noticed from time to time that the air conditioning will have a peculiar odor. It smells like a strong commercial soap or disinfectant. Could there be something the air conditioner is sending into the car that might be harmful to breathe regularly? I have asked the dealer service people, but they say they don't know.--A.R. Answer: The air-conditioning system in your Toyota operates by sending a cooled fluid into what is called an evaporator underneath your dashboard.

Scientists have identified the Godzilla of fungi, a giant prehistoric fossil that evaded classification for more than a century, U.S. researchers reported Monday in the journal Geology. A chemical analysis has shown that the 20-foot-tall organism with a tree-like trunk was a Prototaxites that became extinct more than 350 million years ago. The giant originally was thought to be a conifer, or a lichen, or algae. "A 20-foot fungus doesn't make any sense," said geophysicist C.

More than 100 hibernating bats hang from the vaulted ceiling of a chilly gallery in central New Mexico's Fort Stanton Cave, seemingly unaware of the lights from helmet lanterns sweeping over their gargoyle-like faces. The mood is heavy with anxiety as biologists Marikay Ramsey and Debbie Buecher search for signs of white-nose syndrome, a novel, infectious and lethal cold-loving fungus that digests the skin and wings of hibernating bats and smudges their muzzles with a powdery white growth.

Opium production in Afghanistan this year plunged by nearly half from 2009 levels, the United Nations said in a report Thursday. But the steep drop was attributed to a fungus that wreaked havoc on the poppy crop, not to Western anti-narcotics efforts. The scarcity dramatically drove up prices so much that officials fear poppy cultivation will prove an irresistible option in the coming year for farmers whom authorities are trying to entice to grow legal crops. And despite the blight, the premium prices probably put about as much drug money into the insurgency's coffers as previously.