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Iowa Death From Fungal Disease Points to Risk Near Rivers
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Iowa-death-from-fungal-disease-points-to-risk-near-rivers-100144599.html

CENTRAL IOWA - Iowa anglers and other people who spend time along rivers could be at risk for a fungal disease.

A central Iowa adult has died of blastomycosis, a fungus that can be found in moist soil, often in woods along waterways.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Patricia Quinlisk said the death investigation is still in its early stages. She would not say where the person died or other details.

Blastomycosis is not a reportable disease in Iowa, Quinlisk said, so it is difficult to know how commonly it occurs in the state.

“We have had a few clusters,” she said.

Iowa could consider adding blastomycosis to its list of reportable diseases.

Wisconsin and Minnesota are among states that track where the disease occurs.

The fungus can be found along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries and along the Great Lakes.

People inhale the fungus spores when contaminated soil is disturbed.

Quinlisk said the spores have been found in beaver lodges and brush piles, for example.

Dogs are seen as the “canary in a coal mine” for predicting human cases of blastomycosis, she said, because their noses are often in the dirt and they can contract the canine form of the disease.

Symptoms are similar to pneumonia, with coughs and chest pain, accompanied by fever and chills. Some people have skin lesions, appearing as a raised bump that progresses to an ulcer, Quinlisk said.

The disease can be treated with one of three anti-fungal drugs.

Quinlisk said blastomycosis is usually not life-threatening.