On the emergence of Candida auris: climate change, azoles, swamps and birds

Abstract

The most enigmatic aspect of the rise of Candida auris as a human pathogen is that it emerged simultaneously in three continents with each clade being genetically distinct. Although new pathogenic fungal species are described regularly, these are mostly species associated with single cases in individuals who are immunosuppressed. In this study, we used phylogenetic analysis to compare C. auris with temperature susceptibility of close relatives and use these results to argue that it may be the first example of a new fungal disease emerging from climate change with the caveat that many other factors could have contributed.