Let's start with some bizarre features of cocci itself.

让我们从孢子菌本身一些特征开始。

This doesn't happen with urease negative Gram-positive cocci, like Streptococcus pneumoniae or Enterococcus faecalis.

这一现象在脲酶阴性革兰氏阳性细菌中就不会发生，如肺炎链菌或粪肠菌。

Cocci isn't picky about what kind of lungs it's settling in.

孢子菌并不挑剔它在什么样肺里定居。

Cocci is typically found in the soil in the southwestern US parts of Mexico, Central, and South America.

菌通常存在于美国西南部、墨西哥、中美洲和南美洲土壤中。

A kangaroo rat or some other desert rodent inhales cocci while digging its burrow.

袋鼠鼠或其他一些沙漠啮齿动物在挖洞时吸入了孢子菌。

We can use this to differentiate Staph saprophyticus from other gram positive cocci, like streptococci and enterococci, which are catalase negative.

我们可以利用这一特性来区分腐生葡萄菌和其他革兰氏阳性菌，如链菌和肠菌这一类过氧化氢酶阴性细菌。

The cocci either lays dormant in their lungs or the infection kills them.

孢子菌要么潜伏在它们肺部，要么使它们被感染致死。

And so maybe that's cocci's strategy.

也许这就是孢子菌策略。

Fun fact, this is what cocci is doing to people with severe valley fever. While they're alive.

有趣是，这就是菌对严重谷热所做事——在他们还活着时候。

When they die, cocci spread right back into the soil and the system starts again.

当它们死亡时，孢子菌会传播回土壤中，这个感染系统就又开始了。

And finding cocci in the soil at all has proven difficult.

事实证明，在土壤中找到孢子菌是很困难。

The infection caused by cocci goes by many names.

由孢子菌引起感染有很多名字。

But we still don't know if this is actually even happening… because of how little we understand about cocci itself.

但我们仍然不知道这是否真发生了，因为我们对菌本身知之甚少。

Ultimately, cocci's spread could be thanks to all of these factors combined but there are still tons of unresolved questions.

最终，菌传播可能要归功于所有这些因素结合，但仍有大量未解决问题。

If this is the case, then the more desert rodents living and dying, the more likely cocci can move through the soil.

如果是这样话，那么越多沙漠啮齿动物生存和死亡，就越有可能通过土壤传播孢子菌。

One study estimates that cocci's range could more than double by 2095… due to increasing arid conditions across the US.

一项研究估计，由于美国各地日益干旱环境，到 2095 年，菌范围可能会增加一倍以上。

What we do know is that the US is getting warmer and that on its own could expand cocci's range potentially making more people sick.

我们所知道是，美国正在变暖，这可能会扩大孢子菌生长范围，可能会让更多人生病。

When the soil is disturbed like when dust storms sweep through the west or when construction workers begin digging a foundation… cocci releases spores into the air where unsuspecting mammals breathe them in.

当土壤受到扰动时，比如沙尘暴席卷西部，或建筑工人开始挖掘地基时，菌会将孢子释放到空气中，毫无戒备哺乳动物会将它们吸入。

And while most fungi eat dead or decaying material, cocci doesn't always wait for an animal to die before it starts digesting them from the inside out.

虽然大多数真菌都吃死亡或腐烂物质，但孢子菌并不总是等到动物死亡后才开始从内到外消化它们。

When the rodent dies, cocci is released back into the soil and morphs back into its environmental form where it waits to be kicked up and inhaled by some other host.

当啮齿动物死亡时，孢子菌被释放回土壤中，并变形成其环境形式，等待被其他宿主踢起并吸入。