Health officials in New York say two men died from infectious pneumonia after using bat feces as fertilizer to grow marijuana.
The two men, ages 64 and 59, used bat poop fertilizer called guano to grow cannabis.
The men had smoked marijuana contaminated with a fungus found in the guano. The fungus caused deadly lung infections.
One of the men ordered the guano online, while the other victim used guano from a colony of bats in his attic.
The men did not know each other. They were found dead in separate locations in Rochester, NY.
Health officials issued a warning to beware of ordering guano online for weed fertilizer.
The doctors wrote that using guano on home-grown marijuana plants appears to be a “recent trend”. They urge avoiding use of the fertilizer, unless it has been independently tested for fungus and other pathogens.
Online sources call guano a “natural superfood” for growing cannabis, but it can contain dangerous bacteria, fungus or virus that can make people seriously ill.
Pathologists tested the bat feces and found a fungus called Histoplasma capsulatum, which is native to the Eastern half of the US.
The fungus is found in bat droppings and bird droppings, and in the soil naturally.
Most people get the illness from breathing in spores of the fungus through the nose or mouth.
Once the fungus is inhaled into the lungs, it takes between three and 17 days for symptoms to appear. It is not contagious and doesn’t spread between humans.
