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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

#91

Post by doodlebugging »

esseph wrote: post #65
doodlebugging wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I agree. It is common to see those used as area and volume examples. I think it is far less common for the audience to have a clear mental picture of the two terms though. It's easier for a football field to serve as a reference because more people have exposure to football fields. It is more difficult for an Olympic sized swimming pool to serve as a reference because there are fewer people who have seen one in person.

I think it is a bit comical to use swimming pools as a volumetric reference when most people's experience with swimming pools has been in a back yard setting or on visits to community pools, which may be any convenient size.

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

#92

Post by empath75 »

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…

Hypochlolorous acid, otherwise known as "swimming pool water"

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

#93

Post by thijson »

drdexebtjl wrote: post #48
MisterTea wrote: post #15

> “I’m convinced that half of the human cases that come from cats are people who are trying to stuff pills down their cat’s throats to treat the sporotrichosis,” Do yourself a favor, crush the pill and put it in food. Problem solved. Difficult with multiple cats but I had two and one needed medication so I put this little guys on a window sill he loved to perch on which the other cat didn't care to reach.

This doesn’t necessarily work. Some pills taste bad, and the cat will refuse weird-tasting food. I recommend everyone who has healthy cats to talk to their vet about administering empty capsules. Just so you and the cat get comfortable with the process before you need it. Kind of like you need to train them from an early age that clipping their nails is fine. When your cat gets old, they will need to take oral supple…

Maybe mix it with cat nip. My Mom used to have to mix medicine in with the pig's feed. They were very good at eating around the medicine. To get around that she would prepare a concoction of beer and molasses and feed and the medicine. They then ate all of it.

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

#95

Post by mlcruz »

elzbardico wrote: post #51

Please note that this is an extremely rare disease even in Brazil, where it came from. Asked my vet, and two cousins who also are vets, and all of them knew of the disease from scientific literature and government health bulletins, but only one of them had treated two actual cases, when he lived in northeastern region: two strays. Brasil must have something like between 40 and 50 million cats (including strays). An i…

It is not that rare, the epidemic is just focused on the south region right now.

Porto Alegre metropolitan area is having a huge outbreak. My girlfriend is a vet and has been dealing with new cases multiple times a week.

Many of our friends also got it (it is very hard to not get scratched when handling with cats in pain).

It is a really really shitty, painful and hard to treat disease, requiring multiple months of treatment. It is very painful but usually not letal for humans and cats that are in the earlier stages and get treatment.

However it is absolutely lethal for populations of wild and stray cats, as it is very infectious and 100% lethal unassisted.

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

#96

Post by kalenx »

busssard wrote: post #42

We will see more and more fungi infecting mammals in the coming years. Mammals and birds evolved higher body temperatures in part to protect from fungal infections. As most fungi are dying above 37°C. But a high temperature summer is a selection pressure on any mushroom trying to survive, and hence might evolve to survive 40° summers and thus also survive in our bodies. I really hope cordyceps is one of the last to d…

Not sure about that. Outside temperature above 37 were common in many highly populated areas, even before "high temperature summer" (e.g., India, Indonesia, most of Brazil, etc.). If there was an actual selection pressure, we would have seen its results by now.

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

#97

Post by drdexebtjl »

AdamN wrote: post #82
MisterTea wrote: post #15

> “I’m convinced that half of the human cases that come from cats are people who are trying to stuff pills down their cat’s throats to treat the sporotrichosis,” Do yourself a favor, crush the pill and put it in food. Problem solved. Difficult with multiple cats but I had two and one needed medication so I put this little guys on a window sill he loved to perch on which the other cat didn't care to reach.

I may be crazy but I feel like we shouldn't be giving medicine to animals with communicable diseases (unless the medicine reduces the chances of animal->human transmission). We're just reducing the effectiveness of these medicines over time.

Citation needed.

We ought to have learned after the Covid “herd immunity” policies that killed hundreds of thousands around the world, that infectious disease control should be grounded on actual research, and not on simplified world models.

Researchers currently recommend treatment.

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

#98

Post by thatguy0900 »

AdamN wrote: post #82
MisterTea wrote: post #15

> “I’m convinced that half of the human cases that come from cats are people who are trying to stuff pills down their cat’s throats to treat the sporotrichosis,” Do yourself a favor, crush the pill and put it in food. Problem solved. Difficult with multiple cats but I had two and one needed medication so I put this little guys on a window sill he loved to perch on which the other cat didn't care to reach.

I may be crazy but I feel like we shouldn't be giving medicine to animals with communicable diseases (unless the medicine reduces the chances of animal->human transmission). We're just reducing the effectiveness of these medicines over time.

Most people now treat pets as children, expensive surgeries even are commonplace. Good luck convincing them not to medicate their pet when a medicine for the disease exists

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

#99

Post by fipar »

curiousthought wrote: post #90
userulluipeste wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are lucky that mass epidemics that plagued humans so far didn't affect the brain. Affections like rabies, that require individuals biting each other, and which are the inspirational source of all those zombie fantasies, do not count. That is an attack vector easy to spot and manage. The scary scenario is the one like with this Sporothrix Brasiliensis fungus, which can spread by merely "sneezing out the infectious…

Toxoplasma gondii affects animal behavior, I don't think it's a stretch to think it (or something similar) could affect humans in some way we haven't measured yet.

I think it’s very common for parasites to affect their host’s behavior.

If you find this topic interesting, I recommend the book “Parasite Rex”

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

#100

Post by hombre_fatal »

drdexebtjl wrote: post #48
MisterTea wrote: post #15

> “I’m convinced that half of the human cases that come from cats are people who are trying to stuff pills down their cat’s throats to treat the sporotrichosis,” Do yourself a favor, crush the pill and put it in food. Problem solved. Difficult with multiple cats but I had two and one needed medication so I put this little guys on a window sill he loved to perch on which the other cat didn't care to reach.

This doesn’t necessarily work. Some pills taste bad, and the cat will refuse weird-tasting food. I recommend everyone who has healthy cats to talk to their vet about administering empty capsules. Just so you and the cat get comfortable with the process before you need it. Kind of like you need to train them from an early age that clipping their nails is fine. When your cat gets old, they will need to take oral supple…

> When your cat gets old

> You’re the person they trust the most

-_- Gave my spry lil five year old critter a hug. He doesn't deserve to get old.

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