Feline sporotrichosis: clinical and zoonotic aspects

Abstract

The sporotrichosis is a deep mycosis, its course is subacute or chronic, and is caused by the Sporothrix schenckii. It's a very common dermatopathy, generally arising from thorn wounds, insects stings as well as from splinters. The S. schenckii has been described in São Paulo, Brazil, in canines, felines, asinines, bovines, equines and murines. However, its antropozoonotic feature has seldom been mentioned in the international literature, and, in Brazil, there is only one report about a possible transmission cat-human being. The current approach describes a clinical case of feline sporotrichosis transmitted by cat scratch to the owner, the career and the veterinarian.' A very offensive three-year-old male mongrel cat showed severe cutaneous lesions in cephalic, thoracic regions and forelimbs. These lesions were ulcerations, exsudation, crusts, alopecia worsened by the symptoms of the feline respiratory complex. This cat wounded, in a short time, 5 persons. Three of them had shown symptoms of distinct severity and development. The presumptive clinical diagnosis was corroborated by histopathology (HE, PAS) of skin, lymphonodes, and tonsils fragments obtained "intra-vitam" and "post-morten". This was true by the isolation of the agent. Finally, this was confirmed as a result of serological (FC, precipitation antibodies) and immunocutaneous (sporotrichina, histoplasmina) tests made in affected patients.