BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 30 -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release:
The battle lines have finally shifted in the war against a deadly fungal disease.
The fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus has long been known to cause a severe, rapid respiratory infection, and it has become harder to fight.
"Even with treatment, the mortality rate can vary between 30-90 percent," said Jose M. Vargas-Muñiz, assistant professor of biological sciences. "And now environmentally acquired antifungal-resistant Aspergillus are starting to infect patients."
Vargas-Muñiz, an affiliate with the Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens, was recently a part of a team of researchers who ha...