Humans may very well be worn out by Last of Us-type ‘fungi apocalypse’, warns professor

A microbiologist has warned that a funghi apocalypse is on its way…and that it could wipe out humankind.

Arturo Casadevall, a professor of molecular microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases, says a Last of Us-type scenario wasn’t a fantasy.

The post-apocalyptic TV series, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, shows what could happen if a mass fungal epidemic wiped out most of humanity.

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Those affected by the funghi virus – called cordyceps – are turned into zombie-like creatures, whose bite – or spores – infect humans, turning them into monsters.

Professor Casadevall, 67, who has written more than 1,000 scientific papers and works at the respected Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, USA, said funghi was a ‘real threat’ to humanity.

His new book – out last month and called What If Fungi Win? – highlights the ‘very real possibly’ of a pandemic being caused by fungus.

Speaking this week, he said that a ‘Last of Us’ scenario was ‘not impossible’. He said: “Right now, we don’t know of any fungus that can turn a human into a zombie.

“But there’s no question in my mind that we’re likely to see dangerous new fungal pathogens in time. In fact, we are already seeing it happen.”

He said that climate change was likely to see funghi ‘unleash new diseases’ on humankind, adding: “Everything in our environment is being affected as temperatures rise.

“There’s increasing evidence that certain fungi have the potential to unleash new diseases that will harm many more humans in unprecedented ways.”

The professor said that if fungi adapts to higher temperatures it would ‘jump our defences’ and that it would see more ‘funghi-releated disease’, adding: “That is the fear.”

He said there was already evidence of funghi mutating after the fungus Candida auris (C.auris) was found in the ear of a person in Japan in 2007, which then spread to South America, Africa and India.

He added: “Candida auris was unknown to medicine until 2007 when it was recovered from the ear of an individual in Japan.

“So we have a medical mystery. We have an organism that medicine didn’t know anything about. One of the things we have proposed is that this may have been the first fungus to breach our thermal barriers.

“Most fungi cannot survive at 37C degrees [the body’s internal temperature]…it is likely the first example of a new fungal disease emerging from climate change.”

He said that humans had never experienced a ‘fungal pandemic’, but warned that other species have…and that we could be next.

He said: “Humanity does not have experience with a fungal pandemic, but other species do.

“Amphibians are being decimated by a fungus that has spread to all the continents.

“So if a fungus can do that to amphibians that have been around for millions of years and which have good immune systems like we do, it is hubris to think something can’t happen to us.

“We have a huge blind spot when it comes to the diseases and toxins fungi can wield.”

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