http://lunchmatters.net/2010/01/26/i-feel-kinda-gross/ I'm Going to Write About Lunch Mon, 12 Sep 2011 03:10:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://lunchmatters.net/2010/01/26/i-feel-kinda-gross/#comment-73 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:27:31 +0000 http://lunchmatters.net/?p=258#comment-73 NO MENTION OF PIGEONS A.K.A. “RATS WITH WINGS” SO THAT’S GOOD! Histoplasma capsulatum grows in soil and material contaminated with bird or bat droppings (guano). The fungus has been found in poultry house litter, caves, areas harboring bats, and in bird roosts (particularly those of starlings). The fungus is thermally dimorphic: in the environment it grows as a brownish mycelium, and at body temperature (37°C in humans) it morphs into a yeast. The inoculum is represented principally by microconidia that, once inhaled into the alveolar spaces, germinate and then transform into budding yeast cells. Histoplasmosis is not contagious, but is contracted by inhalation of the spores from disturbed soil or guano.

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