Estudo clínico-epidemiológico e terapêutico da esporotricose felina Na Região Metropolitana do Recife

Abstract

Sporotrichosis expansion in Brazil highlights the potential zoonotic and epizootic transmission of fungal species Sporothrix brasiliensis to poorly investigated regions, such as Northeastern Brazil. The aim of the current study is to describe clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic features of feline sporotrichosis and Sporothrix brasiliensis isolates’ susceptibility in vitro in cats from Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR). The diagnosis of cats with suspected sporotrichosis was achieved through fungal isolation in culture and Sporothrix spp. species identification was performed based on the PCR technique. Information on clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic variables, as well as guardians’ addresses for georeferencing purposes, were collected through questionnaire application. Cats meeting the inclusion criteria were subjected to five different treatment protocols. Itraconazole (ITZ), amphotericin B (AnB), terbinafine (TBF) and potassium iodide (KI) minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against the investigated isolates was determined. S. brasiliensis was confirmed in 100% of tested samples. The epidemiological profile highlighted higher frequency of adult (85.5%), male (61.8%), semi-domesticated (82.7%) cats who had contact with soil (92.7%) and lived in houses (81.8%). Recife City (63.6%) presented the largest number of recorded cases. Ulcer (89%), crust (77.3%) and sneezing (61%) were the most frequent clinical signs of feline sporotrichosis. The disseminated cutaneous + mucocutaneous clinical form of it (32.7%) was the prevalent one, mainly in animals’ ears (50%), nasal region (45.5%) and pelvic limbs (45.5%). Animals in the ITZ group (65.2%) recorded the highest healing frequency. On the other hand, animals treated with ITZ + KI presented the highest death frequency (56.2%). Three non-wild isolates were identified in the ITZ group, whereas six non-wild isolates were identified in the TBF group. The current study enabled assessing feline sporotrichosis behavior in a given region in Northeastern Brazil that remains poorly investigated. Moreover, the herein observed susceptibility pattern in vitro was consistent with the good therapeutic response presented by cats treated with ITZ.