A family vacation to Costa Rica turned sour after 12 of 13 relatives developed symptoms of a fungal lung infection following an excursion through bat-filled caves.
In season two of The Last of Us, the cordyceps fungus—spoiler alert—becomes airborne, meaning the fungal infection can spread not just through bites but also when humans inhale its spores. While the TV show is highly fictitious, airborne fungi are most certainly not. A U.S. family now knows this better than most, since 12 of their members became ill after touring a bat cave in Costa Rica. In a paper published Thursday in the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers described 12 confirmed or probable cases of histoplasmosis: a pulmonary infection caused by inhaling the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. This fungus lives in soil, frequently alongside bird or bat droppings, and can become airborne if the earth is disturbed. While symptoms are usually subtle, the infection can make infants and immunocompromised people vulnerable to more serious illnesses.