Recognize it ? No ?
It's a species of yeast and found among plants, soil and air; a pathogenic fungus called Cryptococcus gattii. Still no help ?
Well, if you live on Vancouver Island in British Columbia and you have the great misfortune to accidentally inhale this little nasty or its spores, and it grows within you, your chances of dying as a result are about 1 in 3 especially if you have a compromised immune system due to diabetes, kidney or heart disease.
What's worrying is C. gattii can survive in freshwater. It can survive in saltwater. It can survive in the air. It can survive in dried out soil for years. It is everywhere and it is unstoppable.
It's not real clear what C. gattii's origins are and there are varieties not all of which are as deadly as the VGIIa and VGIIc strains - or how long it's been around in Vancouver.
What is real clear though is it is a serious emerging disease threat and that C. gattii thrives in warmer, dryer weather.
And it's moving steadily south into the US.
Unfortunately, we and yeasts are close biological relatives, so to speak ... as such there are so many commonalities between their cells and our own that it is very difficult to find drugs that can kill yeast cells without killing our own.
And here's the kicker, drug companies aren't racing to find new anti fungal drugs because in part of the high costs associated with the regulations imposed by Congress on the drug companies.
Live in Florida ? Look for C. gattii coming in less than 10 years to a neighborhood near you. It will be elsewhere throughout the country much earlier.
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