Can people catch infections from plants?
While plant pathogens typically cannot infect humans due to fundamental biological differences, rare cases have been documented where fungi like Chondrostereum purpureum have caused infections in people, especially those with weakened immune systems. These pathogens usually cannot survive the human body's high temperature or breach human cell membranes. However, prolonged exposure and compromised immunity may allow rare cross-kingdom infections to take hold.
- ▪Plant pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi cause disease in plants but rarely infect humans due to differing biological structures.
- ▪Fungi are responsible for approximately 85% of plant diseases and typically cannot survive the human body’s high internal temperature.
- ▪A 2023 case report documented a plant mycologist in India infected by Chondrostereum purpureum, a fungus that causes silver leaf disease in plants.
- ▪The infected patient had prolonged exposure to decaying wood and fungi, which likely led to inhalation of spores that resisted immune defenses.
- ▪Plant pathogen infections in humans are extremely rare and usually occur only in individuals with compromised immune systems.
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Health Can people catch infections from plants? Catching diseases from plants may not just be the domain of science fiction. By Emma Bryce published 16 May 2026 in Features When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Can viruses, bacteria, fungi, or other microorganisms that cause disease in plants also infect humans? (Image credit: Sumala Chidchoi/Getty Images) Copy link Facebook X Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter It's a plotline that has haunted science fiction for decades: Humans become infected by plant pathogens, causing illness, death or a zombie-like state.
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