Human sporotrichosis: A zoonotic outbreak in southern Brazil, 2012-2017.

Zoonotic sporotrichosis has undergone a geographical expansion in Brazil in the last decade. Rio Grande do Sul (RS) is the second state of the country in which a number of feline sporotrichosis cases have been described. Since cats are the main zoonotic source of infection, this study aimed to describe 100 cases of human sporotrichosis occurring in the last 5 years in the southern region of RS, Brazil. In addition, we aimed to illustrate the zoonotic importance of the disease, describing four cases in the same family due to transmission by their cat. This great number of human cases in a short period of evaluation highlights the severity of sporotrichosis as a public health problem in the region, suggesting that a possible outbreak is occurring that requires immediate public intervention actions to weaken its impact.