Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia.
Halls Head Small Animal Clinic, Mandurah, New South Wales, 6210, Australia.
Aust Vet J. 2024 Dec;102(12):638-645. doi: 10.1111/avj.13375. Epub 2024 Oct 20.
Sporotrichosis is caused by species of the fungus Sporothrix that affect human and several animal species. The transmission of sporotrichosis is classically from an environmental source following penetrating injury. The alternative zoonotic route has gained attention due to the rapid and significant spread of cat-transmitted sporotrichosis in South America and Malaysia, resulting in several thousand human and feline cases in recent decades, especially in Brazil. In Australia, sporotrichosis is sporadic and mainly related to environmental sources. Although feline sporotrichosis is rare in Australia, zoonotic transmission occurred in two of five reported cases, including a recent case cluster, which is reported in this article. The investigation of such cases in Australia is important, as cats not only represent a source of infection living in close proximity with humans, but also, they may represent sentinels for the environmental presence of the fungus. To encourage the investigation and reporting of new veterinary cases, we have reviewed Australian sporotrichosis cases in humans and cats and report a new case cluster of feline sporotrichosis in Perth, WA, Australia, with zoonotic transmission. The index case was a kitten who developed severe facial sporotrichosis with prominent involvement of the nasal planum. Two human cases - one suspected and one confirmed - are also described in the owner, who was a veterinary nurse, and the attending veterinarian, respectively, probably from handling the kitten while not wearing gloves. Later, another mature cat in the same household also became infected. The affected cats were successfully treated using combination of itraconazole and terbinafine. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the second case of cat-transmitted sporotrichosis reported from Australia.
皮肤孢子丝菌病由申克孢子丝菌引起，可感染人类和多种动物。孢子丝菌病的经典传播途径是环境源通过穿透性损伤。由于猫传播孢子丝菌病在南美洲和马来西亚的迅速和显著传播，导致近几十年来数千例人类和猫类病例，尤其是在巴西，这种替代性动物源性传播途径引起了关注。在澳大利亚，孢子丝菌病是散发性的，主要与环境源有关。尽管猫类孢子丝菌病在澳大利亚很少见，但在报告的五例病例中有两例是动物源性传播，包括本文报告的一个近期病例群。在澳大利亚调查这些病例很重要，因为猫不仅是与人类密切接触的感染源，而且可能是真菌在环境中存在的哨兵。为了鼓励调查和报告新的兽医病例，我们回顾了澳大利亚人类和猫类的孢子丝菌病病例，并报告了澳大利亚西澳大利亚州珀斯的一个新的猫类孢子丝菌病病例群，有动物源性传播。首例病例是一只小猫，面部严重孢子丝菌病，鼻平面明显受累。在主人（一名兽医护士）和主治兽医（一名兽医）中，也描述了另外两例人类病例，一人疑似，一人确诊，这可能是在未戴手套处理小猫时感染的。后来，同一家庭中的另一只成年猫也被感染。受影响的猫用伊曲康唑和特比萘芬联合治疗成功。据我们所知，这是澳大利亚报告的第二例猫传播孢子丝菌病。
