TY - JOUR AU - Ben-Ami, Ronen AU - Berman, Judith AU - Novikov, Ana AU - Bash, Edna AU - Shachor-Meyouhas, Yael AU - Zakin, Shiri AU - Maor, Yasmin AU - Tarabia, Jalal AU - Schechner, Vered AU - Adler, Amos AU - Finn, Talya T1 - Multidrug-Resistant Candida haemulonii and C. auris, Tel Aviv, Israel T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2017 VL - 23 IS - 2 SP - 195 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Candida auris and C. haemulonii are closely related, multidrug-resistant emerging fungal pathogens that are not readily distinguishable with phenotypic assays. We studied C. auris and C. haemulonii clinical isolates from 2 hospitals in central Israel. C. auris was isolated in 5 patients with nosocomial bloodstream infection, and C. haemulonii was found as a colonizer of leg wounds at a peripheral vascular disease clinic. Liberal use of topical miconazole and close contact among patients were implicated in C. haemulonii transmission. C. auris exhibited higher thermotolerance, virulence in a mouse infection model, and ATP-dependent drug efflux activity than C. haemulonii. Comparison of ribosomal DNA sequences found that C. auris strains from Israel were phylogenetically distinct from isolates from East Asia, South Africa and Kuwait, whereas C. haemulonii strains from different countries were closely interrelated. Our findings highlight the pathogenicity of C. auris and underscore the need to limit its spread. KW - Candida auris KW - Candida haemulonii KW - virulence KW - bloodstream infection KW - antimicrobial resistance KW - Israel KW - fungi DO - 10.3201/eid2302.161486 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/23/2/16-1486_article ER - End of Reference