Two Pathogenic Fungi Crossed the Species Barrier—Can Now Infect Humans

The premise for “The Last of Us,” both the video game and the HBO hit series, centers around the survival of two people navigating a post-apocalyptic wasteland after a mutated fungus infected most of the world’s population, turning victims into mindless zombies.

At first glance, it appears like just another interesting take on the zombie genre.

But believe it or not, the game is actually based on a real-life genus of fungus called cordyceps, which survives by infecting insects, hijacking their immune systems, and turning them into vessels that the fungus then controls. The fungus parasite then guides the insect body to a desirable location where it can spread to other hosts.

While the concept that a fungus can turn humans into mindless zombies might seem far-fetched, there is already mounting concern within the scientific community that mutating strains of fungi are rapidly evolving in response to changing climate, to the point where they are beginning to present a real threat to human health.

In recent years, several genera of fungi (which had previously not been a problem) are now able to infect humans.

Let’s go through the current state of pathogenic fungi.