An unusually large outbreak occurred in Africa in the 1940s in over 3000 miners who had frequent physical contact with wood timber supports. This contributed significantly to our current understanding of Sporothrix schenckii , its growth patterns, and its mechanisms of dissemination. Finally, veterinarians, their assistants, and pet owners have been reported as infected in small clusters. Transmission in these cases is generally from infected cats. Sporotrichosis infections can be either cutaneous or extracutaneous.
Cutaneous infections are most common and are subclassified into fixed cutaneous and lymphocutaneous.
A few authors refer to a rarely included third subclass of cutaneous sporotrichosis in which diffuse cutaneous involvement occurs. Fixed cutaneous infections occur at the site of inoculation and remain confined entirely to the skin. Lymphocutaneous disease results from lymphangitic spread of an infection. Extracutaneous, or disseminated sporotrichosis, can present as pyelonephritis, orchitis, mastitis, synovitis, meningitis, or osseous infection. Sporotrichosis can cause a monoarthritis, typically involving the knee.