THE WALWORTH, WISCONSIN, EPIDEMIC OF HISTOPLASMOSIS

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Abstract
An epidemic of histoplasmosis that involved 19 persons in Walworth, Wisconsin, is reported. The organism was isolated from the soil surrounding the house which the patients were building and from the scalene nodes of 2 patients. The incubation periods, relationship between extent of exposure and illness, the clinical pictures, roentgenogram findings and laboratory results are presented. A skin-test survey of people in the area suggested a rather circumscribed area as the source of infection, but the means by which organisms gained entry into this area could not be determined. The importance of complete cultural as well as serologic studies in epidemic situations, the relative benignity of histoplasmosis and the potential dangers of certain circumscribed areas infected with H. capsulatum are emphasized.