Study Shows How Climate Crisis Created A SuperBug

'This Is the Beginning': New Study Warns Climate Crisis May Have Been Pivotal in Rise of Drug-Resistant Superbug; Research argues that deadly Candida auris "may be the first example of a new fungal disease emerging from climate change."

Jessica Corbett, July 23, 2019 (Common Dreams)

“…[The climate crisis may have been ‘pivotal’] in the recent rise of a multidrug-resistant fungal [Candida auris] superbug, sparking questions and concerns about the emerging public health threats…Until recently, scientists considered it a mystery how C. auris popped up in more than 30 countries around the globe a decade after it was first discovered in 2009. It emerged simultaneously on three continents—in India, Venezuela, and South Africa—between 2012 and 2015, each strain being genetically distinct…[A new study argues that] Candida auris ‘may be the first example of a new fungal disease emerging from climate change’…

click to enlarge

…[As the climate has warmed, some organisms, including Candida auris, have successfully] adapted…Fungal diseases are relatively uncommon in humans because of body temperature—but if they adapt to rising temperatures, and aren't easily treatable with medications, they could increasingly endanger human health on a global scale…[Scientists say] C. auris may be the first fungal disease whose emergence scientists have tied to rising temperatures…[but may not] be the last…[I]t could potentially transmit DNA to other Candida species. And maybe even bacteria…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet