Pantoja L D M, Moreira Filho R E, Brito E H S, Aragão T B, Brilhante R S N, Cordeiro R A, Rocha M F G, Monteiro A J, Quinet Y P, Sidrim J J C
Specialized Medical Mycology Center, Federal University of Ceará, Ceará, Brazil.
J Med Entomol. 2009 Jul;46(4):895-9. doi: 10.1603/033.046.0423.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of filamentous fungi and yeasts on the external surface of ants at hospitals. From March 2007 to February 2008, 2,899 ants were evaluated in two public hospitals in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, in northeastern Brazil. The ants were attracted by nontoxic baits, distributed within critical and semicritical hospital areas. The fungi were identified through macro- and micromorphological analysis, biochemical profile, and growth in chromogenic medium. From this study, 5 genera and 13 species of ants were identified, from critical (8% of the collected ants) and semicritical (92%) areas, during the daytime (48%) and nighttime (52%) periods. In the mycological analysis, 75% of the ants were fungi carriers, with the species Tapinoma melanocephalum and species from the genus Pheidole having the most potential as carriers of airborne fungi (75 and 18%, respectively) and yeasts (6 and 1%, respectively). In summary, ants act as carriers of airborne fungi and yeasts, including some pathogenic species.
本研究的目的是评估医院中蚂蚁体表丝状真菌和酵母菌的存在情况。2007年3月至2008年2月期间，在巴西东北部塞阿拉州福塔雷萨市的两家公立医院对2899只蚂蚁进行了评估。这些蚂蚁被无毒诱饵吸引，分布在医院的关键区域和半关键区域。通过宏观和微观形态分析、生化特征以及在显色培养基中的生长情况来鉴定真菌。通过这项研究，在关键区域（占采集蚂蚁的8%）和半关键区域（占92%），白天（占48%）和夜间（占52%）期间，鉴定出了5个属和13种蚂蚁。在真菌学分析中，75%的蚂蚁是真菌携带者，其中黑头酸臭蚁属和大头蚁属的蚂蚁作为空气传播真菌（分别为75%和18%）和酵母菌（分别为6%和1%）的携带者潜力最大。总之，蚂蚁充当空气传播真菌和酵母菌的携带者，包括一些致病菌种。
