{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T12:27:51Z","timestamp":1785414471865,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":9,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]],"date-time":"2026-04-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776902400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009980","name":"Innsbruck Medical University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["D-155110-017-016"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["D-155110-017-016"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009980","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["D-155110-017-016"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["D-155110-017-016"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03pt86f80","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Candidozyma auris (C. auris) is an emerging healthcare-associated yeast of major epidemiological concern because of its multidrug resistance and outbreak potential. We report the recovery of a single C. auris isolate from a used face mask collected in May 2025 during a blinded dental medicine quality-control programme assessing microbial contamination in the working environment. To contextualise this finding, we analysed routine diagnostic laboratory data from 2017 to 2025. The isolate underwent whole-genome sequencing for molecular characterisation, including analysis of the ERG11 gene, and antifungal susceptibility testing by EUCAST broth microdilution. In addition, 53,802 patient-related Candida spp. isolates collected between 2017 and 2025 were reviewed retrospectively; species identification had been performed by MALDI-TOF. The environmental isolate belonged to clade III and carried the V125A\/F126L substitutions in ERG11, consistent with African clade isolates and associated with intrinsically high fluconazole minimum inhibitory concentrations. No C. auris was detected in routine patient specimens during the study period, whereas Candida albicans remained the predominant species in clinical samples. These findings provide no evidence of ongoing C. auris transmission at the Medical University of Innsbruck, but highlight the need for continued vigilance and robust infection-prevention measures to limit the risk posed by isolated introductions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof12050307","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]],"date-time":"2026-04-23T08:11:14Z","timestamp":1776931874000},"page":"307","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Early Signal Without Clinical Cases: A Single Clade III Candidozyma auris Isolate from a Face Mask Highlights the Value of Environmental Quality Control"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Angelika","family":"Bauer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"European Excellence Centre of Medical Mycology, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Astrid","family":"Mayr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"European Excellence Centre of Medical Mycology, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-0205-1666","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephanie","family":"Toepfer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"European Excellence Centre of Medical Mycology, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8901-8770","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kathrin","family":"Spettel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Comprehensive Center for Infection Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Section Biomedical Science, Health Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Campus Wien, 1100 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7921-5749","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Birgit","family":"Willinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Comprehensive Center for Infection Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard","family":"Kriz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Comprehensive Center for Infection Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Section Biomedical Science, Health Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Campus Wien, 1100 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2946-7785","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cornelia","family":"Lass-Fl\u00f6rl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"European Excellence Centre of Medical Mycology, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1924","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMra2402635","article-title":"Candida auris Infections","volume":"391","author":"Lionakis","year":"2024","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Horton, M.V., Holt, A.M., and Nett, J.E. (2023). Mechanisms of pathogenicity for the emerging fungus Candida auris. PLoS Pathog., 19.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1011843"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0018722","DOI":"10.1128\/mmbr.00187-22","article-title":"Candida auris: Host interactions, antifungal drug resistance, and diagnostics","volume":"90","author":"Chowdhary","year":"2025","journal-title":"Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"de Gaetano, S., Midiri, A., Mancuso, G., Avola, M.G., and Biondo, C. (2024). Candida auris Outbreaks: Current Status and Future Perspectives. Microorganisms, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12050927"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Carolus, H., Jacobs, S., Lobo Romero, C., Deparis, Q., Cuomo, C.A., Meis, J.F., and van Dijck, P. (2021). Diagnostic Allele-Specific PCR for the Identification of Candida auris Clades. J. Fungi, 7.","DOI":"10.3390\/jof7090754"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Spettel, K., Kriz, R., Wu, C., Achter, L., Schmid, S., Galazka, S., Selitsch, B., Camp, I., Makristathis, A., and Lagler, H. (2023). Candida auris in Austria\u2014What Is New and What Is Different. J. Fungi, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/jof9020129"},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Guinea, J., Meletiadis, J., Arikan-Akdagli, S., Giske, C., Muehlethaler, K., Arendrup, M.C., and Subcommittee on Antifungal Susceptibility Testing (AFST) of the ESCMID European Committee for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (2023). Method for the determination of broth dilution minimum inhibitory concentrations of antifungal agents for yeasts. EUCAST Definitive Document E.Def 7.4, European Committee for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0162421","DOI":"10.1128\/AAC.01624-21","article-title":"Impact of Erg11 Amino Acid Substitutions Identified in Candida auris Clade III Isolates on Triazole Drug Susceptibility","volume":"66","author":"Williamson","year":"2022","journal-title":"Antimicrob. Agents Chemother."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1047","DOI":"10.1080\/14787210.2025.2544694","article-title":"Can we prevent azole-resistant Candida parapsilosis from becoming the next Candidozyma auris?","volume":"23","author":"Steixner","year":"2025","journal-title":"Expert Rev. Anti-Infect. Ther."}],"container-title":["Journal of Fungi"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2309-608X\/12\/5\/307\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]],"date-time":"2026-04-23T09:15:23Z","timestamp":1776935723000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2309-608X\/12\/5\/307"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]]},"references-count":9,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}},"alternative-id":["jof12050307"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jof12050307","relation":{},"ISSN":["2309-608X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2309-608X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]]}}}