It is not that rare, the epidemic is just focused on the south region right now.

Porto Alegre metropolitan area is having a huge outbreak. My girlfriend is a vet and has been dealing with new cases multiple times a week.

Many of our friends also got it (it is very hard to not get scratched when handling with cats in pain).

It is a really really shitty, painful and hard to treat disease, requiring multiple months of treatment. It is very painful but usually not letal for humans and cats that are in the earlier stages and get treatment.

However it is absolutely lethal for populations of wild and stray cats, as it is very infectious and 100% lethal unassisted.