Fungus Blamed for Wash. Porpoise Deaths

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2006/oct/06/100603334.html

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - A microscopic fungus native to Australia and blamed for the death of people and animals in British Columbia is now linked to the deaths of porpoises and at least one cat in Washington state.

Necropsies have that revealed Cryptococcus gattii, first detected in the region on Vancouver Island in 1999, was the cause of death in six porpoises and a cat in the state, Washington's former public health veterinarian, Almira Jane Leslie, told The Herald of Everett.

The cat that died and two others that were infected with the fungus last year were in Whatcom County, which borders on British Columbia, and the porpoises were among 25 that have died in Washington state and British Columbia since 1999, Leslie said.

Except for a few isolated cases in animals in aquariums, doctors and veterinarians said it was the first time the fungus, which is invisible to the naked eye, has been documented in the United States.

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[Ian David]

1. Maw and Paw Good! n/t