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Volume 32, Number 6—June 2026

Research

Outbreak of Wickerhamomyces anomalus (formerly Candida pelliculosa) Bloodstream Infections, Venezuela, 2022–20231

Maribel Dolande-Franco2, Diego H. Caceres2Comments to Author , Juan F. Frey-Carrillo, Antoniellys Pérez-Guzmán, Andres Ceballos-Garzon, Aleiram Chaurio-Briceño, Bram Spruijtenburg, Yusely Roa-Díaz, Eelco F.J. Meijer, Elaine Cristina Francisco, Rodrigo Oliveira, Tatiana Drummond-Suinaga, and Jacques F. Meis
Author affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Higiene “Rafael Rangel,” Caracas, Venezuela (M. Dolande-Franco, J.F. Frey-Carrillo, A. Chaurio-Briceño); Immuno-Mycologics, Norman, Oklahoma, USA (D.H. Caceres); Universidad del Rosario, Bogota, Colombia (D.H. Caceres, A. Ceballos-Garzon); Radboudumc-CWZ Center of Expertise for Mycology, Nijmegen, the Netherlands (D.H. Caceres, B. Spruijtenburg, E.F.J. Meijer, J.F. Meis); Hospital Universitario de Caracas, Caracas (A. Pérez-Guzmán, Y. Roa-Díaz, T. Drummond-Suinaga); Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital/Dicoon, Nijmegen (B. Spruijtenburg, E.F.J. Meijer); Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (E.C. Francisco); Antimicrobial Resistance Institute of São Paulo, São Paulo (E.C. Francisco); Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil (E.C. Francisco); Bruker Daltonics GmbH & Co., Bremen, Germany (R. Oliveira); University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany (J.F. Meis)

Main Article

Figure 1

Geolocations of reported Wickerhamomyces anomalus (formerly Candida pelliculosa) bloodstream infection outbreaks, Venezuela, 2022–2023. The map shows the distribution of outbreaks across 8 hospitals in 3 cities: Caracas (Capital District; n = 5 hospitals), Los Teques (Miranda State; n = 1 hospital), and Valencia (Carabobo State; n = 2 hospitals). Caracas, located near Venezuela’s northern coast, represents the primary cluster. Los Teques lies ≈29 km southwest of Caracas, and Valencia is located ≈177 km west of Caracas. The geographic dispersion and clustering across multiple healthcare facilities are consistent with regional nosocomial transmission rather than a single point-source event. Insets show location of the 3 states in Venezuela and the location of Venezuela in South America.

Figure 1. Geolocations of reported Wickerhamomyces anomalus (formerly Candida pelliculosa) bloodstream infection outbreaks, Venezuela, 2022–2023. The map shows the distribution of outbreaks across 8 hospitals in 3 cities: Caracas (Capital District; n = 5 hospitals), Los Teques (Miranda State; n = 1 hospital), and Valencia (Carabobo State; n = 2 hospitals). Caracas, located near Venezuela’s northern coast, represents the primary cluster. Los Teques lies ≈29 km southwest of Caracas, and Valencia is located ≈177 km west of Caracas. The geographic dispersion and clustering across multiple healthcare facilities are consistent with regional nosocomial transmission rather than a single point-source event. Insets show location of the 3 states in Venezuela and the location of Venezuela in South America.

Main Article

1Preliminary results from this study were presented at the 22nd INFOCUS Conference; November 20–23, 2024; Bogota, Colombia.

2These authors share first authorship of this article.

Page created: April 17, 2026
Page updated: May 26, 2026
Page reviewed: May 26, 2026
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