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Abstract
Sporotrichosis, caused by agents of the fungal genus Sporothrix, occurs worldwide, but the infectious species are not evenly distributed. Sporothrix propagules usually gain entry into the warm-blooded host through minor trauma to the skin from contaminated plant debris or through scratches or bites from felines carrying the disease, generally in the form of outbreaks. Over the last decade, sporotrichosis has changed from a relatively obscure endemic infection to an epidemic zoonotic health problem. We evaluated the impact of the feline host on the epidemiology, spatial distribution, prevalence and genetic diversity of human sporotrichosis. Nuclear and mitochondrial markers revealed large structural genetic differences between S. brasiliensis and S. schenckii populations, suggesting that the interplay of host, pathogen and environment has a structuring effect on the diversity, frequency and distribution of Sporothrix species. Phylogenetic data support a recent habitat shift within S. brasiliensis from plant to cat that seems to have occurred in southeastern Brazil and is responsible for its emergence. A clonal structure was found in the early expansionary phase of the cat–human epidemic. However, the prevalent recombination structure in the plant-associated pathogen S. schenckii generates a diversity of genotypes that did not show any significant increase in frequency as etiological agents of human infection over time. These results suggest that closely related pathogens can follow different strategies in epidemics. Thus, species-specific types of transmission may require distinct public health strategies for disease control.
Anderson Messias Rodrigues is a fellow and acknowledges the financial support of São Paulo Research Foundation (2011/07350-1) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (BEX 2325/11-0). This work was supported, in part, by grants from São Paulo Research Foundation (2009/54024-2), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (472600/2011-7) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.
Note: Supplementary information for this article can be found on Emerging Microbes & Infections' website (http://www.nature.com/emi/)