A disease, caused by a fungus and transmitted by cats, has become an out-of-control epidemic in Brazil. Sporotrichosis is caused by the fungus Sporothrix, which lives in the soil. The cat is the main victim that, when infected, transmits it to people through scratches, bites and contact with injuries.
In Paraná, the number of human cases doubled from January to August (421) compared to last year (215). In Paraíba, the increase reached 80% (from 237 in 2022 to 431 in 2023).
The Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases warns that this is an uncontrolled epidemic and that sporotrichosis is already the disease caused by a fungus that causes the most concern in the country. Notification is not mandatory, and only nine states have case statistics.
According to the professor of Infectious Diseases at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Alessandro Pasqualoto, the Ministry of Health is paying attention and has the prospect of starting to require the notification of cases throughout this year, 2023, but it is not yet on a scale of adequately understand the importance of the disease.
Source: SBT News.
