CDC Officials Say a Cat-Spread Fungus Reaching the U.S. Is ‘Just a Matter of Time’
· Vice
Your adorable, beloved outdoor cat might someday be covered in oozing skin ulcers that spread across its body. Even worse, they could eventually jump to you if it becomes infected with a rapidly spreading fungus that hasn’t reached the United States yet, but as CDC official Shawn Lockhart recently told Science News, it’s “just a matter of time.”
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U.S. health officials are increasingly worried about Sporothrix brasiliensis, a fungal pathogen that has infected thousands of cats and more than 11,000 people across South America since it first emerged in Brazil in the 1990s. Since then, the fungus has spread to several South American countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay.
Infected cats will develop painful skin ulcers and swollen lymph glands. When left untreated, the fungus spreads through the body, eventually becoming fatal. It can also jump to humans, who also develop painful skin lesions after being scratched or bitten by infected cats. It can kill a person in severe cases, especially if the person is immunocompromised.
Health Officials Warn Cat-Spread Fungus Could Eventually Reach the U.S.
Sporothrix brasiliensis spreads efficiently. Where most fungi-related infections spread through environmental exposure, this species is infectious in its yeast form, making it easily transmissible through a cat’s bites, scratches, daily grooming, and even through a cat’s sneezes. Lockhart, a senior advisor at the, described infected felines as capable of spraying “fungus-laden snot” onto surfaces, where it can survive for weeks.
The fear of the fungus traveling internationally is not unfounded. There is one documented case of a family that moved from Brazil to the UK and developed infections years later after unknowingly bringing an infected cat along with them. A veterinarian who treated the cat was infected.
To make matters worse, there is no commercially available test for Sporothrix brasiliensis, and cats entering the United States generally need only a health certificate showing obvious signs of illness.
For now, Sporothrix brasiliensis is still outside of the United States as far as anyone is aware. But health officials are keeping a close eye on its movements because it only takes one infected cat to make someone else’s problem your problem.
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