A pair of Indian Grey Hornbill, a rare and nearly extinct bird, was spotted sitting on the balcony of a building in Mumbai as lower pollution levels owing to Covid restrictions are attracting the birds to the cities.
How common is it?
The condition is very rare – around 500 cases a year were estimated to occur in the US prior to the Covid pandemic, indicates the CDC.
Approximately 113 cases occur annually in South Africa, according to a 2019 report published in the
Who does it mainly affect?
The condition commonly affects people with underlying medical conditions, including those with diabetes, as well as those taking medications that suppress the body s immunity.
Cases in India
Although mucormycosis is seen throughout the world, an increasing number of Covid patients in India appear to be contracting the infection,
According to
The Times, citing local news reports, in the western state of Maharashtra (capital Mumbai), 200 Covid patients who had recovered from the disease were being treated for mucormycosis.
The ‘black fungus’ maiming Covid patients in India
On Saturday morning, Dr Akshay Nair, a Mumbai-based eye surgeon, was waiting to operate on a 25-year-old woman who had recovered from a bout of Covid-19 three weeks ago.
Inside the surgery, an ear, nose and throat specialist was already at work on the patient, a diabetic.
He had inserted a tube in her nose and was removing tissues infected with mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection. This aggressive infection affects the nose, eye and sometimes the brain.
After his colleague finished, Dr Nair would carry out a three hour procedure to remove the patient’s eye.