Autochthonous and dormant Cryptococcus gattii infections in Europe

Until recently, Cryptococcus gattii infections occurred mainly in tropical and subtropical climate zones. However, during the past decade, C. gattii infections in humans and animals in Europe have increased. To determine whether the infections in Europe were acquired from an autochthonous source or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2012-10, Vol.18 (10), p.1618-1624
Main Authors: Hagen, Ferry, Colom, M Francisca, Swinne, Daniëlle, Tintelnot, Kathrin, Iatta, Roberta, Montagna, Maria Teresa, Torres-Rodriguez, Josep M, Cogliati, Massimo, Velegraki, Aristea, Burggraaf, Arjan, Kamermans, Alwin, Sweere, Johanna M, Meis, Jacques F, Klaassen, Corné H W, Boekhout, Teun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis
Animals
Communicable Diseases, Emerging - epidemiology
Communicable Diseases, Emerging - microbiology
Cryptococcal infections
Cryptococcosis - epidemiology
Cryptococcosis - immunology
Cryptococcosis - microbiology
Cryptococcus
Cryptococcus gattii
Cryptococcus gattii - classification
Cryptococcus gattii - genetics
Cryptococcus gattii - isolation & purification
Epidemiology
Europe
Europe - epidemiology
Genetic aspects
Genotype
genotyping
Health aspects
Humans
Multilocus Sequence Typing
Phylogeny
Risk factors
Travel
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Summary:Until recently, Cryptococcus gattii infections occurred mainly in tropical and subtropical climate zones. However, during the past decade, C. gattii infections in humans and animals in Europe have increased. To determine whether the infections in Europe were acquired from an autochthonous source or associated with travel, we used multilocus sequence typing to compare 100 isolates from Europe (57 from 40 human patients, 22 from the environment, and 21 from animals) with 191 isolates from around the world. Of the 57 human patient isolates, 47 (83%) were obtained since 1995. Among the 40 patients, 24 (60%) probably acquired the C. gattii infection outside Europe; the remaining 16 (40%) probably acquired the infection within Europe. Human patient isolates from Mediterranean Europe clustered into a distinct genotype with animal and environmental isolates. These results indicate that reactivation of dormant C. gattii infections can occur many years after the infectious agent was acquired elsewhere.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid1810.120068