Page 2 - Gerald Kell News Today

Nearly 100 confirmed or probable cases of blastomycosis since January are linked to the Billerud Paper Mill, health officials say.

Nearly 100 workers at a northern Michigan paper mill were infected with blastomycosis fungus. Heres what we know.

Nearly 100 workers at a Michigan paper mill have been diagnosed with probable cases of blastomycosis, a rare condition caused by a fungus typically found in soil and decaying wood.

Roughly a dozen hospitalized from infection, which is spread through the inhalation of microscopic fungal spores.

The exact source of the outbreak has not been identified.

The fungus Blastomyces is feared to have arrived on moist and rotten wood at the Billerud paper mill in Escanaba, in the north of the state. Experts said the outbreak was extraordinary for its size.

Blastomycosis, a fungus found in soil and decaying wood, is believed to have infected more than 90 employees at a paper mill in Escanaba, Mich., according to an April 8 report from the Detroit Free Press.

Serious health complications are uncommon but possible with blastomycosis, a rare fungal disease associated with moist soil and decomposing wood.

A Delta County union raised $28,000 to help Billerud Paper Mill workers.

Public Health Delta Menominee Counties says there are 17 confirmed and 59 probable blastomycosis cases, totaling 76 cases in Delta County.