fungal infection

[Toby]

overcame this poor fly on Esher Common

[ron1863]

The poor soul looks as if he has been deep fried in lard

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by Toby

overcame this poor fly on Esher Common

Not so good for the poor fly but an excellent image of fungal infection Toby.
John

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by Toby

overcame this poor fly on Esher Common

Hi Toby,

This is probably a species of Entomophthora, and possibly the common one which is E. muscae but impossible to tell without microscopy.

Common on various species of dipteran flies and most frequently noticed on bluebottles on window panes in the late autumn - the fly is killed by the fungus which then bursts out through the abdominal segments to discharge the spores - the fly body remains stuck to the substrate and, if on a window pane, can be seen surrounded by a white halo of discharged spores.


Nick

[Leif]

Originally Posted by mykonik

Hi Toby,

This is probably a species of Entomophthora, and possibly the common one which is E. muscae but impossible to tell without microscopy.

Common on various species of dipteran flies and most frequently noticed on bluebottles on window panes in the late autumn - the fly is killed by the fungus which then bursts out through the abdominal segments to discharge the spores - the fly body remains stuck to the substrate and, if on a window pane, can be seen surrounded by a white halo of discharged spores.


Nick

Hello Nick: Are there any pathogenic fungi harmful to healthy humans? I know people with compromised immune systems are at risk. And recently a healthy gardener caught aspergillosis from compost, but apparently that was a one off. I recall Alan Silverside warning people about handling fungi on horn and bone.

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by Leif

Hello Nick: Are there any pathogenic fungi harmful to healthy humans? I know people with compromised immune systems are at risk. And recently a healthy gardener caught aspergillosis from compost, but apparently that was a one off. I recall Alan Silverside warning people about handling fungi on horn and bone.

Toby,

The answer is definitely YES - too many to go into detail here but the internet will inform you - just type in names such as histoplasma, coccidiomyces, maduromyces or just 'pathogenic fungi' or 'mycoses' and you will get pages ! Mostly 'yeast' like fungi but some 'moulds' such as Aspergillus and extremely difficult (often impossible) to treat therapeutically !

And that doesn't include the mildly irritating ones like 'athletes foot' etc.

Whilst a big problem for immunocompromised individuals, some of these species can and do cause serious and frequently fatal diseases in healthy adults.

But one need not fear - they are mostly found in tropical climes !

I expect Alan Silverside might have been refering to the keratinophilic fungi such as Arthoderma curreyi which is common and can cause skin and nail infections but there are others that grow on old feathers and bones in Britain - so beware !!!!!

Nick

[fairplay]

So roll on global warming !!

I once found a dead bracken stem many yonks ago with 6 dead bluebottles stuck to it, Peter Roberts told me it was probably E. muscae.

Reading 'Fungi' by Brian Spooner & Peter Roberts it would seem an infected fly burrowed into soil and spores were released which affected the next generation of emerging bluebottles and they all crawled up a bracken stem 'to die'

Pretty gory stuff.

Neil.

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by mykonik

Toby,

The answer is definitely YES - too many to go into detail here but the internet will inform you - just type in names such as histoplasma, coccidiomyces, maduromyces or just 'pathogenic fungi' or 'mycoses' and you will get pages ! Mostly 'yeast' like fungi but some 'moulds' such as Aspergillus and extremely difficult (often impossible) to treat therapeutically !

And that doesn't include the mildly irritating ones like 'athletes foot' etc.

Whilst a big problem for immunocompromised individuals, some of these species can and do cause serious and frequently fatal diseases in healthy adults.

But one need not fear - they are mostly found in tropical climes !

I expect Alan Silverside might have been refering to the keratinophilic fungi such as Arthoderma curreyi which is common and can cause skin and nail infections but there are others that grow on old feathers and bones in Britain - so beware !!!!!

Nick

Sorry Leif - should have addressed this one to you - my apologies !

Nick

[Leif]

Originally Posted by mykonik

Sorry Leif - should have addressed this one to you - my apologies !

Nick

No problem, and thanks for the info. I will search on the terms you gave. It all sounds rather nasty!

So does that mean one should not handle bone and feathers with fungi obviously present?

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by Leif

No problem, and thanks for the info. I will search on the terms you gave. It all sounds rather nasty!

So does that mean one should not handle bone and feathers with fungi obviously present?

Yes, probably not the wisest idea - apart from the fungi there are numerous unpleasant bacteria on these decaying objects as well !

Nick