Endemic mycoses in americas

Abstract

American continent concentrates important endemic mycoses, both systemic and subcutaneous, such as coccidioidomycosis, blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, paracoccidioidomycosis and sporotrichosis. The common factor among these mycoses is the dimorphic nature of their etiologic agents, like Coccidioides spp., Blastomyces spp., Histoplasma spp., Paracoccidioides spp. and Sporothrix spp., respectively. Human and animal coccidioidomycoses are found in the USA (states of California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico), Brazil (states of Piauí and Ceará) and Argentina (states of Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, San Luis and Córdoba). Blastomycosis is restricted to North America, mainly in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers of the USA, and is predominantly observed in dogs. Cases of classical histoplasmosis in humans and animals occur mainly in the USA (Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio River valley), Canada (Ontario and Montreal) and in some regions of Latin America (Colombia and Brazil). Paracoccidioidomycosis is the most important systemic mycosis in Latin American countries, highlighting Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina. It predominantly affects humans, despite some cases of animal disease being recently reported. In Brazil, there was a special situation concerning sporotrichosis, where thousands of cases of human disease were transmitted due to cat scratches, characterizing a great epidemic of zoonotic transmission. The most prevalent species reported was Sporothrix brasiliensis which is considered to be one of the most virulent species of Sporothrix species complex.