If you’re concerned about homes being a potential breeding ground of fungi after housing a ringworm cat, worry no longer.  

Using data from a 10-year period, Karen Moriello identified 70 foster family homes where Microsporum canis infected cats had lived for different periods of time. (Microsporum canis is the fungi that is responsible for almost all ringworm infections.)  

Using over-the-counter household detergents, a bleach concentrate of 1:100 or accelerated hydrogen peroxide, 38 homes were able to completely decontaminate the areas they cleaned. After another round of cleaning, another 28 homes were decontaminated. Two homes needed three cleanings, while one room required four. One home was not decontaminated due to one foster family’s failure to comply. There was also “no evidence of disease transmission to other animals or people,” according to the clinical summary.  

The study concluded that decontamination isn’t difficult with the right procedures in place.