‘Black fungus’ is not new to Sri Lanka, SLMRI reveals

Sri Lanka Medical Research Institute (SLMRI) has made a revelation on cases of ‘black fungus’ detected in Sri Lanka.

With reports of a person from Ampara who has been diagnosed with the ‘black Fungus’, there has been much dialogue in Sri Lanka regarding the infection which has stirred quite a storm in India.

However, the Deputy Director-General of Education and Research at the Ministry of Health Dr. Hemantha Herath said that experts yesterday (May 24) allayed the fears by confirming that the infection in question was not a result of the ‘black fungus’.

Meanwhile, SLMRI has revealed that Sri Lanka has reported cases of ‘black fungus’, also known as mucormycosis, since 2019.

Dr. Primali Jayasekara, Head of the Department of Mycology at SLMRI mentioned this at a media briefing held in Colombo.

She said, “This fungus is not new to Sri Lanka. We have reported 42 cases of ‘black fungus’ in 2019, 24 in 2020, and 24 in 2021 so far.
 
However, so far none of these patients had been infected with COVID-19. We have not heard of COVID-19 patients being infected with mucormycosis yet.

This fungus is not new to Sri Lanka. Our country has all the environmental factors needed for it to grow. The fungus is present in our soil. Persons with low immunity may get this infection.”