Knowledge about sporotrichosis among volunteers of NGOs and independent protectors of animals from the state of São Paulo

Abstract

Sporotrichosis is a disease caused by the fungus of the genus Sporothrix that affects several animal species and humans. It is an emerging zoonosis in Brazil and the domestic cat has a great epidemiological role, since zoonotic transmission has been rising in recent years. This work aimed to track knowledge about this disease among volunteers from animal protection NGOs and independent protectors from the state of São Paulo. Surprisingly, almost half of the people interviewed, who work and may be exposed to such zoonosis, were unaware of the disease. More than half of volunteers who carry out rescues do not use adequate IPE or only use them when the animal is aggressive, reinforcing such exposure and vulnerability. Despite this, only 8% of participants reported having already presented lesions characteristic of sporotrichosis, which shows that if there was greater caution and knowledge of this public when handling these animals, this incidence could be even lower.