Honing in on disease etiology

What are the causes of disease? How best can laboratories detect them? an‎d what can we do with the knowledge that laboratories generate to improve disease prevention, containment and treatment? These are questions that fall within the African Journal of Laboratory Medicine’s scope and for which some poignant answers were supplied by articles in this volume.Our cover features a photomicrograph of Cylindrocarpon lichenicola from Irek and colleagues’ report of a rare but debilitating case of keratomycosis1. A skilled diagnostician can only confirm this infection with access to mycology laboratory resources, which are uncommon on the African continent. This case report of a soil-acquired infection in a farmer points to the need for diagnostic laboratory vigilance, as well as a need to advocate for broader fungal diagnostics and treatments for African patients. ...