Epidemic cutaneous sporotrichosis.

BACKGROUND

Sporotrichosis is a subcutaneous fungal infection. Lymphocutaneous and fixed sporotrichosis are the most common forms; cases of disseminated sporotrichosis are rare. There have been isolated reports and some epidemic familial outbreaks of the infection.

METHODS

We studied four members of two families who contracted sporotrichosis after sleeping in an old and rust-stained camping tent.

RESULTS

All cases presented with polymorphic lesions, three of them with multiple sites of inoculation. The camping tent was shown to be the source of infection.

CONCLUSIONS

We report an epidemic of sporotrichosis in a family. In three cases disseminated cutaneous sporotrichosis occurred in nonimmunodeficient patients. The isolate of Sporothrix schenckii from a camping tent is extremely rare.