Expert warns humans could be wiped out by Last of Us-type 'fungi apocalypse'
An expert has warned that the human race might be under threat from a fungi apocalypse... and no, I'm not joking.
Apparently, we could soon be wiped out by the sort of thing that you see infecting people on HBO hit series The Last of Us, which stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
It's not just anyone making these claims though, as a professor of molecular microbiology, immunology and infection diseases named Arturo Casadevall has claimed that the scenarios seen in drama series aren't all make-believe.
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The Last of Us depicts what the world might look like if a colossal fungal epidemic wiped out the majority of humanity and how those left would survive.
When someone becomes infected with the fungi virus, called cordyceps, they are turned into zombie-type creatures, with their bites/spores infecting other humans to become like them.
Regardless of the theory, Professor Casadevall, 67, has been studying the possibility of this happening and has written over 1,000 scientific papers on the subject.
Working at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, US, he stated that fungi was a 'real threat' to us all.
He published a lot of his findings in a book that was published in May 2024, called 'What If Fungi Win?', and it highlights the possibility of a pandemic being caused by fungus.
He spoke about it more this week during an interview with The Guardian, saying that it wasn't off the cards, explaining: “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,” the professor said.
Apparently, the key to this happening is through climate change.
"Everything in our environment is being affected as temperatures rise," he explained. "There’s increasing evidence that certain fungi have the potential to unleash new diseases that will harm many more humans in unprecedented ways."
Professor Casadevall said that if fungi evolves and adapts to higher temperatures, it could bypass our immune system and we will see more 'fungi-related disease'.
Apparently, there is already evidence of fungi mutating, after the fungus Candida auris was found in someone's year in Japan in 2007, later spreading to South America, Africa and India.
The scientist 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."
He highlighted that most fungi cannot survive at the body's internal temperature of 37°C, but as some are adapting to overcome this, it is the 'first example of a new fungal disease' - lovely.
Although we have never had a 'fungal pandemic', he said that other species have, and we could be next.
“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."
If you want to start preparing now, it might be time to whack the post-apocalyptic HBO drama on and make some notes.
Joshua Nair