Environmental Isolates of Azole-Resistant Aspergillus fumigatus in Germany

Azole antifungal drug resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus is an emerging problem in several parts of the world. Here we investigated the distribution of such strains in soils from Germany. At a general positivity rate of 12%, most prevalently, we found strains with the TR34/L98H and TR46/Y121F/T289A alleles, dispersed along a corridor across northern Germany. Comparison of the distributions of resistance alleles and genotypes between environment and clinical samples suggests the presence of local clinical clusters.