Pathogenicity[edit]
Sporobolomyces salmonicolor is generally interpreted to be a Biosafety Risk Group 1 fungus.[2] It is considered an opportunistic fungal pathogen of immunocompromised individuals and has been reported in AIDS-related infections.[2] Sporobolomyces salmonicolor has been associated with nasal polyps, lymphadenitis, bone marrow involvement in AIDS patients, infected skin, pseudomeningitis and a case of endophthalmitis.[3][4][6] S. salmonicolor is also considered a type 1 allergen and has been known to cause asthma, nosocomial allergic alveolitis, and rhinitis.[18][19]
A 31 year-old woman went to her physician because of decreased vision in her left eye. The left eye showed fibrinous exudates, posterior synechiae and vitritis.[4] After a vitreous sample was sent to the lab for identification, the yeast was identified as Sporobolomyces salmonicolor. The recommended treatment was voriconazole 200 mg, twice a day for two months. Improvement in the left eye was seen within a week.[4] Exposure to mould and yeast within a military hospital in Finland lead to an outbreak of asthma, alveolitis and rhinitis.[18] The building was known to have severe water and mould damage. After performing inhalation provocation tests, four cases of asthma caused by Sporobolomyces salmonicolor were reported. An additional seven workers were diagnosed with rhinitis. All seven individuals with rhinitis acted positively in nasal S. salmonicolor provocation tests.[18] Sporobolomyces salmonicolor was recovered from the cerebrospinal fluid of three patients in a hospital, one of whom was a kidney transplant recipient.[3] Heavy growth of S. salmonicolor was recovered from utility rooms on the floors of each patient, and from the hospital rooms of two patients. It was suggested that this particular case was most likely caused by contamination. During the collection process, S. salmonicolor was most likely introduced into the CSF as a contaminant.[3]