Dr Casadevall said the threat posed by the fungus was two-fold.
“It’s two processes: adaptation, which threatens us because our [internal body] temperature isn’t going to protect us. And then we have a second problem – that the higher temperatures are changing the fungi,” he said.
Dr Casadevall said that Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis is among other fungal pathogens to emerge in recent years, including Candida auris, which simultaneously surfaced on three continents about a decade ago.
Candida auris is a multidrug-resistant yeast species that was first identified in Japan in 2009.
One of the most concerning aspects of Candida auris is its resistance to multiple antifungal drugs, including fluconazole, amphotericin B, and echinocandins.
Dr Casadevall said its emergence underscores the unpredictability and challenges posed by fungal adaptations and mutations, potentially in response to changing environmental conditions.
Over the last decade, Candida auris has spread rapidly across the globe, causing outbreaks in healthcare settings in multiple countries, including the United States, India, South Africa, and several European nations.
“The question is, where did they come from?” he said. “It’s not like somebody took a plane and spread it. Instead, it appears that it emerged naturally in those regions. We have argued that this may be the first example of a fungus adapting to climate change and acquiring the ability to defeat human temperature.”
