It primarily affects the lungs. Transmission Fungal spores live in soil and are spread by bird droppings. People get the disease from breathing in the spores. It cannot be spread from person to person.
Most people have no apparent ill effects.
But it can cause fever, chest pains, and coughing - symptoms sometimes confused with bacterial pneumonia. A chest X-ray reveals that the disease is not pneumonia. Mild cases clear up on their own. Antifungal medications are used in severe cases. The illness can be fatal in AIDS patients or others with a compromised immune system.