Cryptococcus neoformans: 'Rare Tropical Fungus'

photo-8icTendichere has recently been a flurry of newspaper articles in western Canada concerning a number of infections caused by a "rare tropical fungus."^1-8 The organism causing all this concern is the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. As is true for most other pathogenic fungi, this organism has been known to the scientific community for a long time. Therefore, we understand quite well its properties and how it causes human disease.