Two men in upstate New York died from pneumonia after using bat feces as fertilizer to grow cannabis.
The 64 year old and 59 year old had smoked marijuana tainted with a fungus found in the guano, causing deadly lung infections in both men.
Both deaths occurred in Rochester and they were not connected to one another, highlighting the growing trend of using bat poop to grow cannabis.
One purchased the guano online, and another got the illness from taking guano from a colony of bats in his attic.
Online sources call guano a ‘natural superfood’ for growing cannabis, but it can contain dangerous bacteria, fungus or virus that can make people seriously ill.
In the new cases, the stool contained a fungus called Histoplasma capsulatum, which is native to the Eastern half of the US.
It’s found in bat droppings and bird droppings, and is found in the soil naturally.
Most people get the illness from breathing in spores of the fungus, though it’s also possible to catch the infection through the mouth.
The doctors wrote that using guano on home-grown marijuana plants appears to be a ‘recent trend’. They urge avoiding the fertilizer, unless if you can verify that it has been independently tested for fungus and other pathogens
Once this fungus, pictured here under the microscope, gets in the body, it takes between three and 17 days for symptoms to begin. It doesn’t spread between humans, and outbreaks are isolated to people who have direct contact with contaminated soil or other products
Once there, it can cause serious lung infections that make it difficult to breathe, and can lead to death.
Specialists from University of Rochester, who wrote about the cases in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases, said: ‘It is crucial to raise awareness among physicians and patients to reinforce personal preventive measures and establish timely diagnosis.’
The anonymous 59 year old from upstate New York had a history of heavy tobacco and marijuana use, which likely caused his emphysema.
Emphysema is a lung disease that affects the air sacs within the lungs, and makes it difficult to breathe.
He had also been using a drug that dampens the immune system, called adalimumab, to mange his arthritis.
He initially came into the hospital complaining of trouble breathing, sore throat and weight loss that had been persistent for about six weeks.
Doctors found small masses in his throat and vocal cords that they initially thought might have been cancer, but upon further investigation, turned out to be wounds formed in response to the fungus.
It caused pneumonia, a lung infection where fluid or pus fills the lungs, inhibiting breathing.
Despite treating him with antifungal medications, the patient continued struggling to breathe, and eventually died.
Initial common signs of histoplasmosis include fever, cough, fatigue, chills, headache, chest pain and body aches.
In severe cases, this becomes a long-term lung infection, which can lead to breathing problems, pneumonia and death. These side effects are most common in smokers and people with weakened immune systems.
CDC map showing approximate areas with the presence of Histoplasma in the US
The Histoplasma capsulatum fungus is found naturally in soil in the eastern half of the US, as well as in the droppings of multiple bird and bat species native to that part of the country
In very rare cases, this fungus can spread from the respiratory tract to other parts of the body. This occurred in the second patient from the case study, a 64 year old man with a history of heart disease and heavy tobacco and cannabis use.
After coming into the hospital complaining of chronic cough and 35 pounds of weight loss, doctors questioned him and found out he had been harvesting bat poop from an infestation in his attic to use as fertilizer for his weed plants.
Looking deeper into his case, they found irregular clumps of cells on the mans lungs, chest, pancreas and adrenal glands, causing inflammation that made it hard to breathe and digest food.
The fungal infection had spread from his respiratory tract to his stomach.
Though he initially seemed to improve when doctors treated him with a heavy dose of antifungal medications, the patient ultimately died because blood flow was cut off to his bowels from the masses.
According to doctors from the CDC, the fungus is less likely to be deadly in younger, healthier individuals.
Estimates from the American Thoracic Society say as many as 250,000 Americans get sick with the bug each year.
However, only between 5 and 7 percent of people with the illness die.
Still, with the legalization of marijuana becoming more common, the University of Rochester doctors said, physicians need to be on alert for the potential of more cases to come.
They said: ‘A wide range of the population may be at risk of acquiring the disease through this exposure.’