Threats Posed by the Fungal Kingdom to Humans, Wildlife, and Agriculture
P poignant examples of emerging fungal threats in each of three areas: human health, wildlife biodiversity, and food security are focused on.
Abstract
<jats:p>The fungal kingdom includes at least 6 million eukaryotic species and is remarkable with respect to its profound impact on global health, biodiversity, ecology, agriculture, manufacturing, and biomedical research. Approximately 625 fungal species have been reported to infect vertebrates, 200 of which can be human associated, either as commensals and members of our microbiome or as pathogens that cause infectious diseases. These organisms pose a growing threat to human health with the global increase in the incidence of invasive fungal infections, prevalence of fungal allergy, and the evolution of fungal pathogens resistant to some or all current classes of antifungals.</jats:p>