Fungus source still unknown; five infected

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Fungus source still unknown; five infected

By Rouch

Staff Writer

February 14, 2002

KENANSVILLE | Duplin County health officials are still searching for the

origins of a fungus that has led to the hospitalization of five people over

the past two weeks.

And while they are focusing on the grounds of a Warsaw high school, county

health director Harrelson said Wednesday that the source of

contamination may never be known.

Three county residents with confirmed infections of blastomycosis are being

treated at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

One of the patients, an 81-year-old man, who lives near Kenan High

School, is in intensive care. The two other patients are students at the

school.

One of those, a teen-aged boy, is also in intensive care. A teen-aged girl

is responding well to treatment, Mr. Harrelson said. Two other students have

been released from the hospital.

Four dogs that roamed the area near the school contracted the illness, Mr.

Harrelson said. Two of the dogs died, and two are being treated at a Warsaw

veterinary hospital.

The natural habitat for the fungus is moist soil mixed with rotting plant

matter, scientists believe, but it has been found widely across the South

and in soil in many places in North America.

" They are naturally occurring spores that at some time were dispersed into

the air, " Mr. Harrelson said.

Mr. Harrelson said because dogs frequently sniff the ground, they can easily

inhale the spores, making them indicators for the presence of the fungus.

He said it may only by contracted by breathing in spores. People with the

disease are not contagious. The incubation period is about 45 days.

Mr. Harrelson said construction on the Kenan campus of may have

disturbed the spores, but the lengthy incubation period makes it difficult

to determine exactly when exposure occurred. He said construction on one of

the sites didn't begin until after the incubation period began and that none

of the workers from either site has symptoms.

Symptoms are flu-like and include joint pain, night sweats and difficulty

breathing.

But he said some people might have been mildly affected and recovered

without realizing they had been exposed.

Severe cases may be initially diagnosed as pneumonia and treated with

antibiotics, which don't work against fungal infections. Mr. Harrelson said

the failure of antibiotics is sometimes an indicator for physicians that

they are dealing with fungal infections. Anti-fungal medications, such as

ketocanazole, itraconazole and amphotericin, are used to treat the illness.

Mr. Harrelson said many people who live near the school or who have students

there are asking to be treated with drugs as a precaution, but he said those

who believe they have been exposed should have a sputum test to confirm if

the infection is present.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control will come here later this

week to interview patients, he said.

The information will be used to compile a survey to determine whether anyone

else is at risk.

Rouch: 343-2315 or victoria.rouch@...