Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said in a recent report that healthcare officials and providers should be aware of a rare but deadly fungal infection that can affect the brain and has seen a surge in recent years.
Joel and 'woke neurodivergent Ellie' from The Last of Us, where a not-so rare and very deadly fungal infection wipes out most of the planet...Published on Oct. 2, the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report called for greater surveillance of Cladophialophora bantiana, which U.S. officials have said is known to cause brain abscesses.
According to the report, the infection is linked to a 60 to 70 percent fatality rate. However, CDC researchers said in the report that national surveillance efforts currently don't exist, and that the fungus's "environmental reservoir" as well as the "route of infection" is not completely known.
Between January 2009 and July 2026, there have been 48 confirmed cases and one possible case of Cladophialophora bantiana found in samples obtained primarily from central nervous system tissue, the CDC said.
But from 2023 to 2025, "detections of the fungus increased approximately fourfold," according to the CDC report.
Researchers said that it's not clear why there has been an increase in recent years but stressed that more research into its risk factors "and potentially evolving virulence are warranted."
In patients with a b
