What is histoplasmosis? Outbreak leaves 1 dead, dozens ill in Tennessee
FILE - Histoplasma spores (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).
More than two dozen people have been sickened and at least one person has died from a histoplasmosis outbreak in middle Tennessee, health officials said.
The cases have been reported in Williamson and Maury counties outside of Nashville.
What is histoplasmosis?
The backstory:
Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection caused by inhaling spores from soil contaminated with bird or bat feces, according to Tennessee health officials.
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It’s not transmitted from person to person or through pets, but pets can become infected. Common activities linked to exposure include remodeling or demolishing old buildings and clearing trees or brush where birds have roosted.
Local perspective:
In the United States, the fungus mainly lives in soil in the central and eastern states, particularly areas around the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, but it likely lives in other parts of the country as well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Tennessee, histoplasmosis is endemic and can be found across the state, which makes it harder for health departments to pinpoint the sources of infections.
Histoplasmosis symptoms
Big picture view:
Many people who inhale the spores don’t get sick. For those who do, the most common symptoms are:
- fever
- headache
- cough
- shortness of breath
- chest pain
For people with compromised immune systems, more serious symptoms can include:
- gastrointestinal ulcerations or masses
- skin or mucosal lesions
- lymphadenopathy
- pancytopenia
- hepatosplenomegaly
- meningitis
- encephalitis
- focal brain lesions
Histoplasmosis outbreak Tennessee
What we know:
More than 30 cases of histoplasmosis have been reported in Williamson and Maury counties in middle Tennessee. Alyssia Brown died after testing positive for the infection in December, according to Denver 7.
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What we don't know:
Public health officials have not yet identified a clear source of exposure for the outbreak in Tennessee, "which is not uncommon for histoplasmosis," they said.
What they're saying:
Eli Stinson, a 14-year-old from Thompson's Station, was sick for months after he started running a fever on Halloween. Doctors ran test after test, but they weren’t finding any answers.
"I think they drained half my blood it felt and nothing was coming back positive," Eli told Scripps News Group.
His mother, Cari Stinson, said eventually a friend sent her information about histoplasmosis, which led to her son’s diagnosis.
"I felt like the crazy mom. I kept calling, but I knew he had it," she said.
The Source: This report includes information from Tennessee.gov, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Denver 7.