NEW YORK — Two New York men have died after contracting a rare fungal infection from the bat guano they used to fertilize their marijuana plants.
The men, both of Rochester, were cultivating cannabis for personal use when their health started to deteriorate, according a case published in the journal, Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
One of them, a 59-year-old man with a history of emphysema as well heavy tobacco and marijuana use, was hospitalized after suffering serious weight loss over the course of about six weeks. He also had a sore throat when he was admitted to Strong Memorial Hospital which had been making it increasingly difficult to swallow.
Doctors initially suspected carcinoma after scans showed a mass on his larynx — but a biopsy sample ultimately tested positive for a histoplasmosis infection.
The other man, who was 64 years old, was meanwhile hospitalized for hypo-osmolar hyponatremia — a condition in which sodium levels in the blood are abnormally low — difficulty eating, and severe weight loss. He also had a long history of tobacco and marijuana use and previously underwent a bypass surgery to better facilitate blood flow to his legs.
Doctors eventually determined he too was suffering from a histoplasmosis infection, a type of pneumonia caused by breathing in spores of histoplasmosis capsulatum.
He told doctors there was “a heavy bat infestation of his attic,” which, as a result, was covered in bat feces, or guano. He said he decided to use the waste to fertilize his marijuana, and then relayed his plan to the 59-year-old, who purchased his own guano online.
It is likely that during the fertilization process, the men breathed in harmful fungus spores released by the guano, leaving them both with pneumonia.
The 59-year-old was treated with anti-fungal, but after two weeks, he continued to have extreme difficulty breathing and “he ultimately transitioned to comfort care and died,” according to the report.
His friend, meanwhile, was released from the hospital after treatment, but he returned a month later and died shortly thereafter.