Exceedingly rare’ fungal infection sickens dozens at Michigan paper mill

An “exceedingly uncommon” fungal an infection has sickened no less than 19 staff of a paper mill in Escanaba, Michigan, and greater than 70 further staff have “possible” instances of the illness, well being officers reported. The precise supply of the fungus has not but been discovered.

Public Well being Delta & Menominee Counties (PHDM) was first notified of the fungal outbreak in late February 2023, when the division was knowledgeable of 15 “atypical” pneumonia instances amongst staff of the Escanaba Billerud Paper Mill. These people’ signs started in January and February and early checks recommended that their sicknesses may be blastomycosis, an an infection attributable to a fungus within the genus Blastomyces.