Identification of a Novel Pathogen Using Family-Wide PCR: Initial Confirmation of COVID-19 in Thailand.

In resource-limited countries, early detection of novel pathogens is often challenging, due to financial and technical constraints. This study reports the efficacy of family-wide polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in screening, detecting, and identifying initial cases of the novel SARS-CoV-2 in Thailand. Respiratory secretions were collected from suspected individuals traveling from Wuhan, China to Thailand at the beginning of January 2020.

Early transmission patterns of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in travellers from Wuhan to Thailand, January 2020.

We report two cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in travellers from Wuhan, China to Thailand. Both were independent introductions on separate flights, discovered with thermoscanners and confirmed with RT-PCR and genome sequencing. Both cases do not seem directly linked to the Huanan Seafood Market in Hubei but the viral genomes are identical to four other sequences from Wuhan, suggesting early spread within the city already in the first week of January.

Efficiency of a rapid test for detection of tetrodotoxin in puffer fish.

The selling and importing of puffer fish species and their products was banned in Thailand in 2002, because of possible neurotoxic effects. However, the sale of their flesh is still happening in Thai markets. Standard methods for toxin quantification (HPLC and LC-MS) have significant limitations, therefore a lateral flow, immuno-chromatographic test (TTX-IC) was developed as a tool for rapid detection of toxin.

Three new basidiomycetous yeasts, Pseudozyma alboarmeniaca sp. nov., Pseudozyma crassa sp. nov. and Pseudozyma siamensis sp. nov. isolated from Thai patients.

We previously reported the first isolation of Pseudozyma species from the blood of Thai patients. In this study, three additional new Pseudozyma species were isolated from clinical specimens from Thai patients. The Pseudozyma species showed relatively low sensitivity to azole antifungal agents.

Evaluation of a newly developed lateral flow immunoassay for the diagnosis of cryptococcosis.

Background: Cryptococcosis is a common opportunistic infection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals mostly occurring in resource-limited countries. This study compares the performance of a recently developed lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) to blood culture and enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the diagnosis of cryptococcosis.

Methods: Archived sera from 704 HIV-infected patients hospitalized for acute respiratory illness in Thailand were tested for cryptococcal antigenemia using EIA.

The intergenic spacer region of the ribosomal RNA gene of Penicillium marneffei shows almost no DNA sequence diversity.

The fungus Penicillium marneffei causes fatal systemic infections and is endemic in many parts of South-East Asia, especially Thailand. The intergenic spacer (IGS) region, the most variable region of rRNA genes, was found to be highly conserved among 58 P. marneffei strains.

Genotyping and antifungal drug susceptibility of the pathogenic yeast Trichosporon asahii isolated from Thai patients.

Trichosporonosis due to Trichosporon asahii is a life-threatening infection with a very poor prognosis. We analyzed the genotype of intergenic transcribed spacer (IGS) region 1 of the rRNA gene and determined the drug susceptibility of 101 T. asahii isolates obtained from Thai patients to collect basic information on trichosporonosis in Thailand.

Comparative evaluation of Trichosporon asahii susceptibility using ASTY colorimetric microdilution and CLSI M27-A2 broth microdilution reference methods.

The in vitro activity ofAMPH-B, 5-FC, FLCZ, MCZ, ITCZ, and VRCZ against 50 isolates of T. asahii was determined using CLSI M27-A2 microdilution and ASTY colorimetric methods. Observed agreement ranged from 96 to 100% according to the drug.

Real-time PCR assay to detect DNA in sera for the diagnosis of deep-seated trichosporonosis.

Deep-seated trichosporonosis due to Trichosporon asahii is life-threatening and has high mortality. A real-time PCR assay to detect T. asahii DNA in sera for diagnosis of this fungal infection was developed.

Molecular epidemiology of canine histoplasmosis in Japan.

A recent case of canine histoplasmosis, the first confirmed case of disseminated infection accompanied by carcinoma in Japan, was diagnosed by clinical characteristics, histopathological examination, chest radiographs, ocular fundoscopy and molecular biological data. The clinical manifestations were not limited to cutaneous symptoms but were referable to disseminated infection, similar to human autochthonous cases. The partial sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1/2) regions of the ribosomal DNA genes of this and other Japanese canine histoplasmosis strains were 99-100% identical to the sequence AB211551 derived from a human isolate in Thailand, and showed a close relationship to the sequences derived from Japanese autochthonous systemic and cutaneous human cases.

Candida pseudohaemulonii Sp. Nov., an amphotericin B-and azole-resistant yeast species, isolated from the blood of a patient from Thailand.

Candida haemulonii(types I and II) is rarely isolated from clinical specimens. We isolated a strain that is phylogenetically close to C. haemulonii from the blood of a Thai patient, and named it C.

Characterization of clinical isolates of pathogenic Nocardia strains and related actinomycetes in Thailand from 1996 to 2003.

In Thailand from 1996 to 2003, 171 strains of pathogenic aerobic actinomycetes from clinical specimens were isolated. Of those strains, 134 were mycolic acid containing actinomycetes, including 96 strains of Nocardia species. Others included 10 strains of Gordonia, 14 strains of Rhodococcus, and 22 strains of Mycobacterium.

The first isolation of ustilaginomycetous anamorphic yeasts, Pseudozyma species, from patients' blood and a description of two new species: P. parantarctica and P. thailandica.

The genus Pseudozyma is ustilaginomycetous anamorphic yeasts, and are mainly isolated from plants. We isolated three Pseudozyma strains from the blood of patients in Thailand. While one isolate was identified as P.