A rare and painful skin blistering disease spread to humans from cats has been found in the UK for the first time. Three people have been found with the fungal infection sporotrichosis brasiliensis - normally only found in South America.
They suffered fungus-infected wounds and ulcers on their hands, wrist and arms, reports the Daily Mail. They are believed to have caught the infection from a car rescued from Brazil. The three were a mother and daughter - and a vet.
All three needed medical treatment but have now recovered.
The infection can also affect the eyes, lungs, bones and joints and can spread to the brain. UK Health Security Agency experts revealed details of the infection in the journal Medical Mycology Case Reports.
The case study says a 63-year-old woman went to the GP after wounds on her hand from a cat scratch didn't heal for three weeks and her lymph nodes started to swell.
Her 30-year-old daughter had had an ulcer on her finger from a cat scratch for eight weeks. They were both put on a six-month course of medication. The vet developed an ulcer and lesions after being scratched while treating the same cat.
The cat had been living in the UK for three years and has since died.
The first symptom of cat-transmitted sporotrichosis is a pink, red or purple bump on the finger, hand or arm - which turns into an ulcer or lesion and is slow to heal.
