Strange & Unusual: 50 Facts About Uncommon Plant & Animal Diseases

When a wasp lays an egg in a leaf bud on an oak tree, it develops into a little, apple-like fruit known as an oak gall. The development of the oak gall is stimulated by a chemical released by the larva. The larva consumes the gall tissue as its food source. It will consume it and the tree's roots before finally developing wings and flying away. Up until the middle of the nineteenth century, the most common ink recipe was an iron and oak galls mixture. The United States Postal Service even had its own official recipe.

2. A fungus called chaga thrives on tree trunks, particularly those of birch trees. The conk it creates is a woody structure that feeds off of the wood itself. The fungus Inonotus obliquus is the cause, and because this woody growth has stimulating properties, people have used it to make chaga tea and traditional medicine.

3. Grapes are susceptible to a fungal disease known as Botrytis cinerea. It makes the grapes dry out and shrink, which concentrates the sugars and their flavor. As a result, these grapes can be used to produce top-tier dessert wines like Sauternes and Trockenbeerenauslese. However, not every botrytis is good for grapes; in fact, certain types can cause total crop failure.

4. Superior-quality agarwood can cost more than $30,000 per kilogram, which is almost as expensive as gold. Only when infected with a certain mold does it form in the heartwood of Aquilaria trees.

5. Long-term human contact increases the risk of "Berserk Llama Syndrome" in llamas. These llamas misidentify humans as llamas and sneak up on them to launch surprise attacks.

White-nose syndrome is responsible for the deaths of millions of bats in North America. Researchers haven't found a cure for the disease. Due to the decline in bats, New England's agriculture was severely impacted in 2008, when an estimated 2.4 million pounds of insects went uneaten.

7. Laminitis is a painful inflammation of the foot that primarily affects horses and cattle. Increased digital pulses and hoof temperature are two clinical symptoms that may indicate a problem with the hooves. The condition progresses to the point where the coffin bone perforates the sole of the hoof or the animal is unable to stand, necessitating euthanasia, and the common word "founder" is used to refer to the most severe instances with obvious clinical signs.

8. Hedgehogs can develop a condition known as "balloon syndrome," which causes the animal to inflate due to the accumulation of gas under the skin as a result of an injury or infection. The only animals known to get this illness are hedgehogs. This is because hedgehogs have a unique ability to curl up.

9. Dogs with megaesophagus often have to eat from a raised position, like a high chair, because of the condition.

10. Foals with "Lethal White" syndrome, a genetic condition that is common in American Paint Horses, look healthy at birth (they are all white and have blue eyes), but they die within a few days because their intestines don't work.

White Drupelet Syndrome occurs in blackberries and raspberries when they are subjected to excessive sunshine or high temperatures, causing some of the drupelets (the small parts of the berry) to turn white, typically in a solid block or entire berry. Although edible, very few really make it to stores.

12. There has been a fatal starfish pandemic in the Pacific Ocean since 2013. The illness, known as Sea Star Wasting Disease, is thought to be caused by a virus. Starfish react to this stress by tearing off their own limbs, which ultimately kills them.

13. Grazing animals, such as cows, are particularly susceptible to hardware disease, which is caused when the animals ingest metal trash that has fallen to the ground. The condition is not easy to diagnose, but it can be avoided by administering a magnet by mouth when they are one year old. The magnet will remain in the animal's stomach for the remainder of its life.

14. Researchers have found compounds found in hallucinogenic mushrooms in a cicada fungus known as Massopora. Cicadas infected by it lose their appendages and begin acting strangely. Despite the fact that the fungus has eaten their genitalia and butts, males will still attempt to mate with anything they come across.

15. If deep-sea fishes such as red snapper are to be released back after being caught, they need to be vented. This is due to the fact that they suffer from barotrauma, or inflation of the air bladder, when they are caught and brought up rapidly from the deep sea.

Dogs can suffer from "happy tail syndrome." This happens when they wag their tails so hard in happiness that they injure them.

17. There is an illness that causes a corncob to mutate into a mushroom crop. It is known as "corn smut." It ruins the kernels, but tastes like truffle with some sweetness from the corn. It is a delicacy in some parts of Americas, known as Mexican truffle and huitlacoche. It contains some missing proteins from corn.

18. Cats often avoid consuming food or water from the sides of their bowls to prevent "whisker fatigue." When a cat's whiskers brush against a bowl, it can cause sensory overload, which makes eating and drinking painful and stressful.

19. There is a disorder called "Zoochosis" that most animals get from being confined in zoos, leading to repeated pacing, rocking, vomiting, and even self-mutilation. These behaviors are not seen in the wild and are seen only in captivity.

20. Ligers are a hybrid offspring between a male lion and a female tiger. They continue growing throughout their entire lives due to a genetic disorder called growth dysplasia. They grow twice as big as their tiger and lion mothers and fathers. The largest cat in the world is a 922-pound liger.

Some dog breeds suffer from a genetic condition known as "Rage Syndrome," which is characterized by sudden and unprovoked bouts of aggression that cannot be prevented by training.

22. In the same way that the spread of smallpox killed up to 90% of the people in the Americas, the spread of rinderpest in the late 1800s killed up to 90% of the cattle in Eastern and Southern Africa, destroying the economies of herding and farming communities.

23. Adopting puppies from the same litter is frowned upon, as it can be detrimental to the puppies' ability to bond with humans. This is known as "Littermate syndrome."

24. Canine dysfunctional behavior is a recognized disorder on the autism spectrum that can affect dogs. Some of the symptoms of this neurological condition that is present at birth in dogs are trouble communicating, being mean to other people, and doing things over and over again.

25. Beer hops naturally produce an acid that can kill a parasitic mite known to annihilate entire colonies of bees. Hops have shown so much promise in helping with colony collapse disorder that the EPA has even approved their use as a biochemical miticide.