Although it doesn’t harm humans, you are looking directly at the most terrifying pathogen the world has ever known. It’s not a virus or even a strain of bacteria. It’s a mushroom. And it kills chocolate. The plant chocolate comes from to be exact. The spores released from this fungus (Crinipellis perniciosa) infect cacao trees, drastically reducing yields of the beans from which cocoa and chocolate products are made.

Crinipellis perniciosa causes Witches' Broom Disease (WBD), a disease that quickly spreads through the tissue of the cacao plant, causing it to grow in a broom-like formation.

Currently, there is no defense against WBD. Once a plant is infected, the disease is swift in its total annihilation of the cacao tree. A witch’s trick, indeed!

Photo by Scott Bauer, Courtesy of USDA