Cryptococcus albidus isolated from pigeon excreta in Taiwan.

Cryptococcus albidus (Saito) Skinner, found frequently in the air of El-Minia, Egypt; in New Zealand and Budapest, and isolated occasionally from clinical specimens, has now been recognized as the cause of human diseases. Since isolation of this fungus from pigeon droppings has not previously been reported, this first paper reports results of its drug-susceptibility testing to gentamicin and 5-fluorocytosine, as well as its fungal cell antigenic cross reactivity with C. neoformans as detected by a Latex-Crypto-Antigen Detection System (LCAS).