Addressing Antifungal Drug Resistance — A “One Health–One World” Challenge

Fungal infections impose a substantial burden on humans, animals, and plants. In the United States, there are about 75,000 hospitalizations and 9 million outpatient visits attributable to fungal diseases each year, and direct medical costs of these diseases have been estimated at $6.7 billion to $7.5 billion per year.1 Fungal diseases can also devastate animal populations, as exemplified by the decimation of amphibian populations by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (chytrid) and of bat colonies by Pseudogymnoascus destructans (white-nose syndrome).2 Fungi affecting plants can similarly endanger agricultural products — for example, bananas are threatened by fusarium wilt, and Cryphonectria parasitica caused the loss of American chestnut trees in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition, fungi that produce mycotoxins may contaminate food supplies.2 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that fungal plant pathogens cause the loss of 10 to 20% of crops, at an estimated cost of $100 billion to $200 billion per year.3

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