When a dog bites a person on the road, it does not make any news because it is taken as usual. However, if a man walking on the road suddenly sees a dog and then catches and bites it, it will definitely make the news because it is unexpected.

   So, when the news came that a person from Kolkata was the first ever documented human case of plant fungus, it made international headlines in scientific and medical journals and in newspapers. It did merit worldwide coverage since the 61-year-old person was infected by a killer plant fungus, making it the world's first human infection by this rare plant pathogen.

   This plant fungus known as Chondrostereum purpureum typically causes silver leaf disease, which mainly affects rose plants but has never been reported in humans earlier. Based on this case, a study on how plant fungal infections can spread to humans in close contact has been published in journals of Mycology, which....