Global Zoonotic Diseases: Fungal Diseases
Global Zoonotic Diseases: Fungal Diseases
Disease in Humans | Causative Organism | Animals Involved | Geographic Distribution | Probable Means of Transmission to Humans | Clinical Manifestations in Humans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blastomyces dermatitidis, B helicus, B percursus, B gilchristii, possibly others | Many mammals including dogs, cats, horses, marine mammals; B helicus might be associated with burrows of small mammals | Distribution in environment uncertain; clinical cases focal; locally acquired cases reported in parts of North America, Africa, Middle East, India; some Blastomyces species can occur in areas where B dermatitidis is not usual | Environmental exposure, eg, moist soil (infection common to humans and animals; also reported rarely by animal exposure (eg, bite from infected pet kinkajou) | Acute to chronic pulmonary disease; skin or bone lesions; meningitis, other syndromes, disseminated disease possible; course mild to severe, some cases fatal | |
Coccidioides immitis, C posadasii | Cattle, sheep, horses, llamas, dogs, many other mammals | Especially southwestern US, Mexico, Central and South America; in arid or semiarid foci; some cases might be acquired outside usual foci | Principally environmental exposure (inhalation of arthrospores), including fungal cultures (infection common to humans and animals), one unusual case reported after postmortem examination of horse with disseminated disease | Self-limited, febrile, flu-like illness, sometimes with cough, chest pain in healthy host; serious, possibly life-threatening pulmonary disease or disseminated infection with cutaneous/subcutaneous lesions, persistent meningitis or osteomyelitis, especially in immunocompromised | |
Cryptococcus neoformansvar grubii, C neoformans var neoformans, C gattii | (Organism from environment grows well in bird or bat guano; temporary colonization of avian intestinal tract also possible); clinical cases in various mammals | Worldwide | Principally environmental exposure, via inhalation or through the skin (infection common to humans and animals), caution warranted around accumulations of bird or bat feces; rare cases associated with pet birds | Respiratory signs, mild to severe, often self-limiting in healthy host but more likely to be severe in immunocompromised; dissemination with CNS disease, ocular signs, other syndromes, most often in immunocompromised; skin lesions, either localized from inoculation (uncommon) or from disseminated disease | |
Histoplasma capsulatum var capsulatum | Organism from environment grows well in bird or bat guano; infections in many domestic and wild mammals including bats and birds | Worldwide; clinical cases often cluster in regional foci | Principally environmental exposure (infection common to humans and animals), caution warranted around concentrations of bat guano (eg, caves) | Flu-like, febrile illness, usually self-limiting in healthy hosts; skin lesions; chronic pulmonary disease, usually with preexisting lung disease; dissemination in very young, elderly, immunocompromised | |
H capsulatum var duboisii | Organism from environment grows well in bird or bat guano; infections in many domestic and wild mammals including bats and birds | Africa | Principally environmental exposure (infection common to humans and animals), caution warranted around concentrations of bat guano (eg, caves) | Usually skin and subcutaneous lesions, osteolytic bone lesions but can disseminate or cause lesions (eg, brain abscess) in other tissues | |
Malassezia infection | Malassezia spp adapted to animals (eg, M pachydermatis) | Dogs, cats, other animals | Worldwide | Exposure to clinically affected animals; normal levels on skin not thought to be an important risk | Dermatitis; zoonotic organisms might be implicated in fungemia, invasive disease in preterm neonates, other immunocompromised |
Ringworm ( Dermatophytosis Dermatophytosis ) | Microsporum and Trichophyton spp | Dogs, cats, hedgehogs, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, rodents, other mammals, birds, very rarely reptiles | Worldwide | Direct skin or hair contact with infected animals, fomites | Skin and hair lesions, usually pruritic; rare skin dissemination in immunocompromised |
Sporothrix schenckii complex members, especially S schenckii sensu stricto, S brasiliensis and S globosa | Cats, other mammals, birds, possibly reptiles; cats are more likely to transmit organism to humans than other species | Worldwide; species of Sporothrix may differ in distribution; epizootics in cats in South America | Primarily environmental in vegetation, wood, soil; inoculation from environment in penetrating wounds (eg, splinters, bites, pecks) is most common source, skin contact with lesions, especially in cats also possible; bites, scratches, other close contact implicated during feline epizootics; inhalation rare | Papules, pustules, nodules, ulcerative skin lesions, may follow course of draining lymphatics; mucosa can be affected; extracutaneous involvement, especially bones, joints; disseminated disease (including meningitis) can occur in immunocompromised; acute or chronic pulmonary disease resembling tuberculosis after inhalation, especially with underlying lung disease (rare) | |
Talaromycosis | Talaromyces (Penicillium) marneffei; uncertain zoonotic potential | Organism very common in asymptomatic cotton rats in the genera Rhizomys and Cannomys and their burrows; also found in dogs and other mammals | Asia | Probably acquired from the soil (infection common to humans and animals); most infected humans have no known exposure to bamboo rats; zoonotic potential unclear | Commonly a febrile illness with generalized lymphadenopathy, non-productive cough; often mild in healthy humans; disseminated disease mainly in immunosuppressed, can involve many organs including lung, liver, spleen, lymph nodes, skin, intestinal tract and infrequently CNS; numerous umbilicated or ulcerated skin lesions a common syndrome, often affect the face and neck |
