Epidemiologic Studies of Blastomycosis in Arkansas

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Abstract
Some of the epidemiologic aspects of blastomycosis were determined based on a study of 127 human and 110 canine cases conducted in Arkansas from April 1960 to January 1966. Epidemiologic aspects included case distribution, age, sex, race or breed, occupation, human contacts of canine cases, epidemics, annual incidence, seasonal incidence, and environmental factors. Environmental factors included altitude, soil types, forest types, and climatic conditions, in Arkansas, the southwest region appeared to be the high incidence area. This area had a total of 39 human blastomycosis cases (rate—13/100,000) and 39 canine cases (rate—91/100,000); 35 (33%) of 107 dogs examined had blastomycosis, and 17 (12%) of 143 dogs skin tested had specific blastomycin reactions. The region had a fairly low altitude, the soil area was the Forested Coastal Plain area, and the forest type was mainly loblolly-shortleaf pine. Temperatures and precipitation appeared high enough to support the growth of Blastomyces dermatitidis.