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A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

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Re: A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

#61

Post by elzbardico »

rob74 wrote: post #9
mc32 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are the alternatives people rather avoid considering?

Not the OP, and this is probably not what they were thinking of, but from the point of view of the planet's ecosystem, eliminating the humans that keep introducing species where they don't belong (or at least drastically reducing their population) would be the most effective measure.

There's no such thing as introducing species where they don't belong. Ecosystem are dynamic, several other animals serve as vectors for transporting species from a place to another. There's no such thing as a long term static equilibria where godess gaia looks like a Jehova's witnesses book illustration. This is an incredibly cultish and misanthropic position.

Re: A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

#62

Post by diegolas »

themaninthedark wrote: post #52
zeristor wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Less insecticide is probably the key thing. Driving in the eighties with windscreens full of insects, and now hardly anything, and a lot less of the things that lived on them.

Sometimes I wonder about that. The measure is number of insect impacts on windshields but is the car the same? If we use a more modern care would the increased aerodynamics prevent impacts as instead of punching through the air you are cutting through it? Have never read the full experimental setup and assumptions... I do know that I have less dead bug then when I was a kid...

i've noted less bugs on the windshield but about the same on the optics and the radiator screen, so i go with the aerodynamics explanation as well. bugs are there because i see the bug swarms around the road too.

Re: A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

#63

Post by trevithick »

The article doesn't address treatment efficacy in humans. How is it treated? How effective is the treatment? Can this develop resistance to the treatment? The spread mechanisms and persistence are concerning, but without info on treatment I'm not sure how much I should freak out about this.

Re: A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

#64

Post by wafflemaker »

nemomarx wrote: post #18
shahsjsjjsz wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having cats is an option that is not seriously considered. Dogs are even worse. Make them shit in your own backyard please. If you are a city dweller please do not keep “pets”, it’s bloody ridiculous, thank you.

We've been keeping pets as a species for considerably longer than we've had cities. It's basically an ingrained part of how we react to animals now.

In dwarf fortress you can have dragons as pets. Never got there, tho I think I will train dogs in my current fortress.

Re: A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

#65

Post by esseph »

doodlebugging wrote: post #49
dosisking wrote: post #17

It's hard to take an article that uses the word 'ginormous' seriously

I agree even though I use ginormous in normal conversation. In the right context it is fine, I just don't think this is the right context. I also find it hard to take an article seriously when its volume comparison employs "Olympic-sized swimming pools". I think the fraction of people who have a clear enough mental idea of the dimensions or volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool is pretty small relative to the arti…

> I think the fraction of people who have a clear enough mental idea of the dimensions or volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool is pretty small relative to the articles readership

At least in the US, "Olympic sized swimming pool" is as common a unit of measure as a US football field - very commonly used.

Re: A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

#66

Post by esseph »

throwaway173738 wrote: post #58
croes wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A world with cats is a world with billions of dead birds and small mammals. Without them we will have even more insects. So this time cats won’t protect us from diseases by killing the carrier, these time they help the carriers

Or killing them in the US will allow bird populations to recover, leading to birds killing more insects. Cats are not native to the Americas.

Cats are very native to the Americas.

Just not housecats.

Re: A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

#68

Post by nDRDY »

greenavocado wrote: post #41
kevlened wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be airborne, lives on sanitized surfaces for up to 10 weeks, and may take 3 years for symptoms to appear. Still, it is more concerning for cats than humans.

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is highly effective at killing Sporothrix fungi, including Sporothrix brasiliensis HOCl is the best non-toxic broad spectrum human compatible antimicrobial. I have been using it in many household applications since COVID started. It can be prepared by electrolysis of acidified (e.g. vinegar, but ideally pH 5.5, and inorganic acids make it last way longer at that pH, but they are more dangerou…

"AI Overview" blithely tells me HOCL can be easily made from the electrolysis of salt water.

Looking even a little deeper (Wikipedia) confirms that chlorine chemistry, especially when combined with electrolysis, is very complex, and it's hard to know if you're making the right thing. FWIW every sensible electrolysis-based DIY project has dire warnings about electrolysing solutions of common salt.

Re: A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading

#69

Post by drdexebtjl »

Here’s the website (in Portuguese) from the Brazilian Ministry of Health: https://www.gov.br/saude/pt-br/assuntos/saude-de-a-a-z/e/esp...

It includes instructions for the general population and for medical professionals, as well as a couple of technical reports with tons of references to recent studies.

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