Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii are causative agents of Valley fever, a serious fungal disease endemic to regions with hot, arid climate in the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. The environmental niche of s spp. is not well defined, and it remains unknown whether these fungi are primarily associated with rodents or grow as saprotrophs in soil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoccidioides immitis is an emerging fungal pathogen in Washington State (WA). While the geographical boundaries of C. immitis in WA have not been well characterized, human infections have resulted from exposure in the south-central region of the state.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoccidioidomycosis is a predominantly respiratory infection of animals and humans caused by soil-dwelling fungi. Long known to be endemic to North American deserts, locally acquired human cases first emerged in Washington State in 2010. To inform development of an environmental niche map, we conducted an ecological cross-sectional study of the association between soil and climactic variables and canine seroprevalence in Washington State, at the zip code tabulation area level.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsittacosis, also known as parrot fever and ornithosis, is a bacterial infection that can cause severe pneumonia and other serious health problems in humans. It is caused by Chlamydia psittaci. Reclassification of the order Chlamydiales in 1999 into 2 genera (Chlamydia and Chlamydophila) was not wholly accepted or adopted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoccidioides is a soil-dwelling fungus that causes coccidioidomycosis, a disease also known as Valley fever, which affects humans and a variety of animal species. Recent findings of Coccidioides in new, unexpected areas of the United States have demonstrated the need for a better understanding of its geographic distribution. Large serological studies on animals could provide important information on the geographic distribution of this pathogen.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe used real-time polymerase chain reaction and culture to demonstrate persistent colonization of soils by Coccidioides immitis, an agent of valley fever, in Washington State linked to recent human infections and located outside the endemic range. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed genetic identity between isolates from soil and one of the case-patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoccidioidomycosis ("valley fever") is caused by inhaling spores of the soil-dwelling fungi Coccidioides immitis or Coccidioides posadasii. Most infections are subclinical. When clinical manifestations do occur (typically 1-4 weeks after exposure), they are similar to those associated with influenza or community-acquired pneumonia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne of the difficulties of isolating Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii from environmental samples is the abundant overgrowth of other yeast and mold species that occurs on the plates. Here we report the application of benomyl to Guizotia abyssinica seed extract growth medium to improve the isolation of C. neoformans and C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cryptococcusgattii infections are being reported in the United States (US) with increasing frequency. Initially, US reports were primarily associated with an ongoing C. gattii outbreak in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) states of Washington and Oregon, starting in 2004.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA wildlife hospital and rehabilitation center in northwestern United States received several big brown bats with necrosuppurative osteomyelitis in multiple joints. Wing and joint tissues were positive by PCR for poxvirus. Thin-section electron microscopy showed poxvirus particles within A-type inclusions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA recent emergence of Cryptococcus gattii in the Pacific Northwest involves strains that fall into three primarily clonal molecular subtypes: VGIIa, VGIIb and VGIIc. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and variable number tandem repeat analysis appear to identify little diversity within these molecular subtypes. Given the apparent expansion of these subtypes into new geographic areas and their ability to cause disease in immunocompetent individuals, differentiation of isolates belonging to these subtypes could be very important from a public health perspective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCryptococcus gattii emerged in North America in 1999 as a human and veterinary pathogen on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The emergent subtype, VGIIa, and the closely related subtype VGIIb can now be found in the United States in Washington, Oregon, and California. We performed multilocus sequence typing and antifungal susceptibility testing on 43 isolates of C.
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