It seems like a scene out of “The Last of Us” — a fungus never before seen in humans has just been discovered growing in a person for the first time.
A plant researcher in India saw a doctor for a sore throat and learned he had a fungal infection growing in his throat, causing an abscess that had to be drained of pus.
Fortunately for him, this fungus was nothing like the Cordecyps seen in the hit HBO TV show. It’s known to gardeners as silver leaf, a progressive disease that turns a tree’s leaves silver before killing the infected branch.
Stressed plants ‘scream,’ and it sounds like popping bubble wrap
The patient, a 61-year-old man, told doctors that he had a long history of working with decaying plant materials for research, according to a report published in the journal Medical Mycology Case Reports. He sought medical attention after three months of hoarseness, trouble swallowing, loss of appetite, cough, and fatigue.
Read more: Insider
