A rare fungal disease has some citizens in Escanaba, Michigan, concerned that those who are a part of the outbreak may turn into cannibalistic zombies.

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What Is Blastomycosis?

Smith Collecdtion/Gado/Getty Images
Smith Collecdtion/Gado/Getty Images
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Blastomycosis is a rare fungal infection where humans breathe in airborne spores found in moist soils near wooded areas or along waterways. Not only humans can catch this airborne disease but animals can as well.

Smith Collecdtion/Gado/Getty Images
Smith Collecdtion/Gado/Getty Images
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In some rare cases, the fungus can also infect an open skin wound and cause infections in that area of the body. The good news is, unlike COVID-19, the virus cannot spread from person to person or from animal to person. Whew. The bad news is the symptoms of COVID-19 and blastomycosis are very similar.

Blastomycosis is Part of HBO's "The Last of Us"

NurPhoto via Getty Images
NurPhoto via Getty Images
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If you have spent any time with the HBO series "The Last of Us" then you know the show is based after a global pandemic destroys civilization. The only hope is a 14-year-girl. In the show, blastomycosis turns people into zombies that are cannibals.

Will Blastomycosis Turn People in The U.P. Who Are Infected Into Zombies?

Escanaba is the third-largest city in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. If you have never been you still may be familiar with the name because of the Jeff Daniels movie "Escanaba in da Moonlight." This was a movie about the Michigan traditions of deer hunting camp.

Paper and pulp mill - Factory, Plant
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According to WOOD, there have been 35 confirmed cases of blastomycosis from employees at the Billerud Paper Mill in Escanaba. There are also 9 more employees awaiting test results.

leolintang /ThinkStock/GettyStock
leolintang /ThinkStock/GettyStock
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The good news is, blastomycosis is treatable using anti-fungal medications, and there is no chance of those infected becoming zombies. So those few in Escanaba who watched HBO's "The Last of Us" can now relax.

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