Isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans from environmental samples in Alicante

A study of the incidence of Cryptococcus neoformans in Alicante was carried out in environmental samples from the cities of Alicante and Santa Pola. The samples were pigeons faeces and Eucalyptus camaldulensis tissues. This study shows that the prevalence of the yeast in faeces from captive pigeons is higher (81.5%) than in the same samples from urban pigeons (16.3%). Regarding the biotype and varieties, a 79.3% of the isolates belonged to C. neoformans, and all of them were C. neoformans var. neoformans. None of the E. camaldulensis samples showed C. neoformans growth, although some Cryptococcus laurentii strains were isolated from flowers.