A man who lost 50 pounds without trying was told his weight loss was caused by a deadly fungus found in bat feces.
The unnamed 61-year-old Florida resident finally went to the hospital after suffering from night sweats, extreme fatigue and fever for about 10 months.
Tests showed he was infected with the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. Its levels were extraordinarily high – about 25 times the level that can be detected in a blood test.
The fungus had infected his heart, caused inflammation throughout his body, made his spleen swell and caused two masses to grow on his adrenal glands.
The scan above shows damage to an area of the man’s heart called the mitral valve, as indicated by the arrows.
The above shows areas in the US that are likely suitable for the Histoplasma fungus to live.
Doctors wrote One case report said the man was lucky to be alive: He had diabetes, high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat.
Severe infection with the fungus is 100 percent fatal if left untreated in immunosuppressed people: Covid is only fatal in less than 0.1 percent of cases.
The Florida patient worked as a building supervisor and owned a 16-acre farm where he raised calves.
Doctors were baffled as to how she had become infected: The fungus is not commonly diagnosed in Florida and is most prevalent in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys.
The CDC suggests that these areas are a more “suitable” location for H. capsulatum growth due to soil acidity, distance from water, and ground cover.
H. capsulatum is a fungus found in bird and bat droppings that causes a flu-like illness when people inhale its spores. But the man told doctors he had no contact with the animals and had not traveled outside Florida recently.
However, H. capsulatum can also contaminate the soil and live in it for years.
The case report saying‘The fungus requires an environment that favors its growth, which commonly includes areas with large amounts of bird or bat droppings, or typically under chicken coops.’
The above shows estimated areas in the US with histoplasmosis.
The image above is from a body scan of the Florida patient showing two masses in his adrenal glands, as indicated by the arrows.
The man had to undergo heart surgery to repair damaged areas of the organ and was prescribed intravenous medication for two weeks.
However, after the operation he suffered complications and was admitted to the intensive care unit for six days.
He experienced anemia due to blood loss and impaired kidney function due to cellular damage to the organs.
Once recovered, the man was sent home on “long-term” antifungal treatment.
At follow-up visits, she had stopped experiencing symptoms and had decreasing levels of histoplasma in her blood.
Histoplasmosis cases are not reportable events in some states, so the exact incidence of infection is not known.
However, in states that do report the fungus, the infection rate is generally one to two cases per 100,000 people.
Following the report of his illness, the Department of Health requested soil samples be taken from the man’s farm “as he remained the primary culprit for the exposure.”
The results were still pending at the time of publication of the case report last month.
