Isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans from pigeon droppings collected throughout Turkey

The six hundred and thirty-four samples of pigeon droppings were collected throughout Turkey, from 54 of 80 provinces. Cryptococcus neoformans was isolated from 29 (4.6%, overall) of 634 samples and 29 isolates were from 18 provinces. Interestingly, 16 (88.9%) of these provinces occur on the three different coastlines of Turkey, therefore the ecological role of a humid climate was speculated. Almost all isolates [28/29] were recovered from samples collected from roofs (n=14) and dovecotes (n=14). All isolates were found to be C. neoformans var. neoformans.