Coffee and mushrooms

1995/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

The last coffee harvest in Brazil has been surprised by the health organization. Another year has been achieved a good coffee, but a new disease has appeared that attacks the respiratory system. Researchers from Rio de Janeiro analyze the onset of this disease and have already published provisional data.

According to them, the fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, which is prepared for the planting of coffee plants, seems to have evolved in recent years and this could have a direct relationship with the symptoms of this disease. This disease attacks the respiratory system. The first symptom is the formation of pusles in the skin, to later penetrate the lungs, especially in serous membranes covering the lungs. Therefore, in the beginning it was considered that this disease was a new outbreak of tuberculosis. Later the researchers had to reject this hypothesis.

Farmers working with coffee plants risk contaminating the new disease. In particular, many members of the Surui tribe have already developed the symptoms. Researchers from Rio de Janeiro studied 243 members of the tribe in search of the fungus that contaminates the disease. 43.8% is already contaminated.