P471 Feline sporotrichosis outcome and its impact in public health in Southern Brazil

POSTER SESSION 3, SEPTEMBER 23, 2022, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM: Sporotrichosis due to Sporothrix brasiliensis is an emerging and neglected disease in Brazil. Domestic cats are susceptible to a severe presentation of this mycosis, carrying a high fungal load in their lesions. They frequently infect other animals and even humans by scratches and/or bites. Thus, the correct management and treatment of feline sporotrichosis are crucial aspects of the control of the disease in a population. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the management and outcome of feline sporotrichosis cases in a hyperendemic city in southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul state). METHODS: Database from the Mycology Laboratory (LabMyco) of the Federal University of Rio Grande (FaMed–FURG) was consulted to gather data from all proven feline sporotrichosis cases (confirmed by mycological culture), between January 2019 and December 2021. It was included in this study in all cases in which the phone number of the cat owners was available. All of them were contacted and invited for an interview by quick and short questions regarding the management and the outcome of their cats with sporotrichosis. Disagreement to participate, and change/incorrect phone number contacted were used as exclusion criteria. RESULTS: During the 3-year period studied a total of 62 owners, from 165 felines diagnosed with sporotrichosis in the LabMyco, had a phone number available. A total of 35 owners were excluded, totalizing 27 participants in this study. More than half (51.8%; n = 14) reported returning only once to the veterinarian to clinical accomplishment, 48.1% (n = 13) of them do not use personal protective equipment to handle the infected animal, 44.4% (n = 12) highlighted the difficulty in daily administering drugs to the cat and only 18.5% (n = 5) affirmed to had isolated the infected animal during the treatment. Two animals (7.4%) with advanced signs of disseminate sporotrichosis died before starting treatment, and the others received itraconazole and/or potassium iodide as the drug of choice. Clinical cure was achieved in 40% of the cats treated (10/25), 28% (7/25) evolved to death, 16% (4/25) are still in treatment due to new lesions (recidive), and the other four animals were abandoned in the streets. In addition, zoonotic transmission occurred in three (11.1%) owners, which developed lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis after a scratch or bite by the infected cat. CONCLUSION: Sporotrichosis in Southern Brazil is a public health threat, in view of this, our study shows the urgent necessity of government strategies and interventions that promote health education and implement a service to attend, and provide treatment accomplishment to feline sporotrichosis in view of control the current hyperendemic of this mycosis.