If your shelter is facing a ringworm outbreak, it’s easy to feel the fungus is saturating the entire building. The good news is that santitation is effective, beneficial and eminently practical for any shelter, thanks to a few key facts about the disease.

In a study recently published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, shelter ringworm experts Dr. Karen Moriello and and Dr. Sandra Newbury made these four important points:

1. Spores do not multiply in the environment.

2. Spores do not ‘invade’ building structures like mildew or black mold.

3. Daily removal of debris and organic material will minimize environmental contamination.

4. Control of environmental contamination minimizes problems with false-positive fungal culture results.

Want to know more?

Members of the International Society of Feline Medicine and the American Association of Feline Practitioners can download the entire article for free at the link below. Other readers can purchase the article at the same link.

Moriello, K; Newbury, S. Feline dermatophytosis: Steps for investigation of a suspected shelter outbreak; Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery May 2014 vol. 16 no. 5 407-418. doi: 10.1177/1098612X14530213