<i>Candida auris</i> detected in the oral cavity of a dog in Kansas
Theodore C. White, Brooke D. Esquivel, Elisa M. Rouse Salcido, Allison M. Schweiker, Amanda Ribeiro dos Santos, Lalitha Gade, Erin Petro, Butch KuKanich, Kate S. KuKanich
Abstract
Candida auris is an emerging fungal infection of humans and is particularly problematic because it is multi-drug resistant and difficult to treat. It is also known to be spread from person to person by contact and can remain on surfaces for long periods of time. In this report, a dog in a shelter in Kansas is found to be colonized with Candida auris . This is the first study to document the presence of Candida auris on a pet, the first to document C. auris presence on a non-human mammal in the United States, and the first to report an isolate of C. auris within the state of Kansas. The presence of C. auris in a pet dog raises the possibility of zoonotic transmission from pets to human or vice versa.