Headline: UNCAPTIONED: Global warming is creating potentially deadly fungal pathogens, study finds
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Global warming is creating potentially deadly fungal pathogens, study finds. Scientists in China uncovered a previously unknown fungal pathogen that had "never seen before in humans”. Drug-resistant Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis was discovered in clinical samples from two separate patients. Researchers found that the fungus thrives in higher temperatures, making the 37C human body highly accommodating for the pathogen. The pathogen proved to be resistant to several first-line antifungal drugs, while "hypervirulent mutants" were produced during experiments with mice. The research “support(s) the idea that global warming can promote the evolution of new fungal pathogens,” the journal Nature Microbiology said. Scientists investigated 27,100 strains of fungi taken from patient samples which led to the discovery that R fluvialis had been present in two patients. A 61-year-old died in Nanjing in 2013 and an 85-year-old died in Tianjin in 2016 but the report did not specify if the fungal infection contributed to the two deaths or if this was coincidental. THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT
Keywords: fungal pathogen,Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis,drug-resistant fungi,China,clinical samples,hypervirulent mutants,global warming,evolution of pathogens,antifungal resistance,Nature Microbiology,human infection,higher temperatures,pathogenic fungi,patient samples,medical research,Nanjing,Tianjin
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