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356 MYCOSESRichard, J.L. Sporotrichosis. In: Hubbert, W.T., W.F. McCulloch, P.R. Schnurrenberger,eds. Diseases Transmitted from Animals to Man. 6th ed. Springfield: Thomas; 1975.Zamri-Saad, M., T.S. Salmiyah, S. Jasni, et al. Feline sporotrichosis: An increasinglyimportant zoonotic disease in Malaysia. Vet Rec 127:480, 1990.ZYGOMYCOSISICD-10 B46.0 pulmonary mucormycosis; B46.1 rhinocerebral mucormycosis;B46.2 gastrointestinal mucormycosis; B46.3 cutaneous mucormycosis;B46.4 disseminated mucormycosis; B46.8 other zygomycosesSynonyms: Mucormycosis, entomophthoromycosis.Etiology: Zygomycosis denotes a group of diseases caused by several genera andspecies of fungi belonging to the class Zygomycetes, orders Entomophthorales andMucorales. Consequently, the etiologic agents are numerous; the principal ones arementioned below in connection with the different diseases they cause, which can besubdivided into entomophthoromycoses and mucormycoses (CIOMS, 1982).All the zygomycetes develop as hyphae and appear in the environment as well asin tissue as filamentous fungi. Sabouraud’s agar is an excellent culture medium forthese fungi, in which they develop at ambient temperature. The sporangiophores(specialized hyphae that support sporangia) contain many asexual spores (Carter andChengappa, 1991).Geographic Distribution: Worldwide. Mucormycosis has no defined geographicdistribution. Entomophthoromycosis predominates in the tropics, particularly inAfrica and Asia.Occurrence in Man: It occurs sporadically, particularly in patients weakened byother diseases. However, in the 1970s there was an epidemic of cutaneous zygomycosisin the United States caused by contamination of elastic bandages with the fungus.The clinical manifestation was cellulitis, caused by direct inoculation of the fungusthrough the bandages. The infection was invasive in some patients and affectedmuscles and internal organs (Sugar, 1990). At present, the incidence of zygomycosisis increasing because of the longer survival of diabetics and the growing number ofimmunosuppressed patients. Despite its broad diffusion in nature and the likelihoodthat humans will come into contact with spores, this is not a very frequent mycosis.It is possible that the incidence of mucormycoses is higher in the developed countries,given the higher survival rate of diabetics and the number of immunosuppressedpatients. In a hospital in Washington, D.C., 730 cases of mucormycoses were recordedbetween 1966 and 1988. Of 170 cases of entomophthoromycosis caused byBasidiobolus haptosporus described up to 1975, 112 occurred in Africa. To these casesshould be added 75 cases in Uganda that became known later (Kelly et al., 1980). Thisdisease also occurs in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Entomophthoromycosis dueto the genus Conidiobolus also occurs in the tropics and is more common among men(CIOMS, 1982).