The CDC has reported that a contagious fungal infection, caused by Sporothrix schenckii, has been found in two pet cats and a vet who treated them. The infection is similar to another fungal infection spreading in cats in South America caused by Sporothrix brasiliensis.
The report comes as the CDC is keeping an eye on the spread of a similar fungal infection in South America that's far more contagious was found in two pet cats and a vet who treated them, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday in a report in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The three cases — which took place in late 2022 and early 2023 — were caused by a fungus called Sporothrix schenckiiThe report comes as the CDC is monitoring the spread of a similar fungal infection, also in cats, in South America. That infection is spread by a related fungus called Sporothrix brasiliensis and hasn’t been detected in the United States. Sporotrichosis — the illness caused by a Sporothrix infection — is rare in the U.S., but not unheard of. It’s generally picked up through contact with sharp plants that can pierce the skin like rose thorns, which is how it earned the moniker “rose gardener’s disease.” Sporotrichosis tends to cause a skin infection that’s very slow to heal, but it isn’t contagious, , meaning their wounds have a higher risk of spreading the infection to other cats, dogs and people, said Ian Hennessee, an epidemic intelligence service officer at the CDC and the lead author of the report. “They get these awful wounds on their face, in their nasal cavities and on their paws, and those lesions are full of these fungi,” Hennessee sai
CDC Fungal Infection Pet Cats Vet Sporothrix Schenckii Sporothrix Brasiliensis South America
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