‘Black fungus’ new scare in India as second COVID wave ebbs

India battles a new challenge in mucormycosis or ‘black fungus’, a rare disease with a high mortality rate.

As a devastating second wave of COVID-19 ebbs with less than 100,000 new cases reported on Tuesday, India is now battling a new scare: Mucormycosis, commonly referred to as “black fungus”, is a rare fungal disease with a high mortality rate. On Monday, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the country had more than 28,000 cases of the fungal infection. “From 28 states, we have some 28,252 cases of mucormycosis till now. Out of this, 86 percent, or 24,370 cases, have a history of COVID-19 and 62.3 percent, or 17,601, have a history of diabetes,” Vardhan said in a meeting with a group of federal ministers.