Isolation of saprophytic Cryptococcus neoformans from Puerto Rico: distribution and variety

Until the present decade, no studies had been conducted in Puerto Rico on the saprophytic distribution and variety of Cryptococcus neoformans. Samples (522) of pigeon droppings from 14 western towns were tested for the presence of C. neoformans. The yeast was recovered from 24.7% (129 isolates) of the samples, representing 10 of the 14 towns studied. All environmental isolates were identified as C. neoformans var. neoformans using canavanine-glycine-bromthymol blue (CGB) agar. The yeast was isolated from 79.4% of the samples in one town, Isabela. The average number of yeast cells isolated from sites within this municipality was 5.1 x 10(5) per gram of pigeon droppings. This was 2.6 times the average number of yeast cells of C. neoformans isolated from sites in other towns. In addition, the yeast was isolated from four patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), each of whom died of cryptococcal meningitis. Each of these poorly encapsulated isolates was identified as C. neoformans var. neoformans using CGB agar. The results of this investigation demonstrate that C. neoformans var. neoformans is prevalent in Puerto Rico.