Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Dec;30(12):2577-2582. doi: 10.3201/eid3012.240830.
Blastomyces spp. fungi, the causal agent of blastomycosis, are common in North America but do occur in other areas of the world. The most prevalent pathogen in the genus is B. dermatitidis. Most B. dermatitidis isolates originate from North America, but there are sporadic reports of B. dermatitidis recovery from Africa and Asia. High-quality reports that incorporate genetic information about the fungus outside North America have been rare. Genome sequencing of 3 fungal isolates from patients in India with chronic respiratory diseases revealed that the isolates belong to a genetically differentiated lineage of B. dermatitidis. Because the patients had no history of traveling outside of Asia, blastomycosis was most likely autochthonously acquired, which suggests a local population of B. dermatitidis. Our results suggest the endemic range of B. dermatitidis is larger than previously thought, calling for a reassessment of the geographic range of different agents of endemic mycoses.
博氏荚膜组织胞浆菌真菌，是荚膜组织胞浆菌病的病原体，常见于北美，但也存在于世界其他地区。该属中最常见的病原体是皮炎芽生菌。大多数皮炎芽生菌分离株源自北美，但也有零星报告称在非洲和亚洲分离到皮炎芽生菌。关于该真菌在北美以外地区的遗传信息的高质量报告很少。对来自印度患有慢性呼吸道疾病的 3 例真菌分离株进行基因组测序，结果表明这些分离株属于遗传分化的皮炎芽生菌谱系。由于这些患者没有在亚洲以外地区旅行的病史，因此最有可能是本地获得的荚膜组织胞浆菌病，这表明存在本地的皮炎芽生菌种群。我们的研究结果表明，皮炎芽生菌的流行范围比以前认为的要大，这要求重新评估地方性真菌病的不同病原体的地理范围。
