Molecular detection of Histoplasma capsulatum in environmental samples collected from South African caves
Tsidiso G. Maphanga, Rutendo E. Mapengo, Oresti Ventouras, Serisha D. Naicker, Nelesh P. Govender · 2025
Read Molecular detection of Histoplasma capsulatum in environmental samples collected from South African caves by Tsidiso G. Maphanga, Rutendo E. Mapengo, Oresti Ventouras, Serisha D. Naicker, Nelesh P. Govender (2025) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-12755807.txt.
Description
Tsidiso Maphanga and co-authors searched South African caves for a fungus that can cause lung disease, in a 2025 study. The fungus lives in cave soil rich in bat droppings, and cave visitors and miners have fallen ill after visits in the past. Yet its presence in the soil had never been confirmed by lab tests.
The team took samples from seven caves across three provinces and ran gene tests on the soil. The fungus showed up in five caves, in about a third of the samples. Family-tree checks grouped the finds into four clusters. The authors say the fungus is likely present in well-visited caves with bats. They suggest the gene tests could guide wider checks of cave sites.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Tsidiso G. Maphanga, Rutendo E. Mapengo, Oresti Ventouras, Serisha D. Naicker, Nelesh P. Govender |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 33 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |