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Review
. 2011 Oct;13(11):895-907.
doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2011.05.009. Epub 2011 Jun 1.

Cryptococcus gattii: an emerging fungal pathogen infecting humans and animals

Edmond J Byrnes 3rd  1 , Karen H Bartlett, John R Perfect, Joseph Heitman
Affiliations
Review

Cryptococcus gattii: an emerging fungal pathogen infecting humans and animals

Edmond J Byrnes 3rd et al. Microbes Infect. 2011 Oct.

Abstract

Infectious fungi are among a broad group of microbial pathogens that has and continues to emerge concomitantly due to the global AIDS pandemic as well as an overall increase of patients with compromised immune systems. In addition, many pathogens have been emerging and re-emerging, causing disease in both individuals who have an identifiable immune defect and those who do not. The fungal pathogen Cryptococcus gattii can infect individuals with and without an identifiable immune defect, with a broad geographic range including both endemic areas and emerging outbreak regions. Infections in patients and animals can be severe and often fatal if untreated. We review the molecular epidemiology, population structure, clinical manifestations, and ecological niche of this emerging pathogen.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Morphology of C. gattii. Scanning electron microscopy illustrates C. gattii asexually producing as a budding yeast (A) and sexually reproducing to form a basidium with four emerging basidiospores (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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