Fungal outbreak tied to Michigan paper mill leaves at least one dead, 12 hospitalised

Investigators are looking into the unprecedented outbreak of rare and potentially deadly fungal infections

Health officials in Michigan say one person has died of a rare fungal disease. Screengrab (Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV / YouTube)

At least one person has died and 96 others have fallen sick with a fungal infection linked to a Michigan paper mill, local health officials said.

Investigators are now looking into the unprecedented outbreak of rare and potentially deadly fungal infections — blastomycosis – at a northwest Michigan paper mill.

Local reports said that the latest tally by Public Health Delta & Menominee Counties in the outbreak linked to the Escanaba Billerud Paper Mill includes 21 confirmed cases, where labs have been able to spot the fungus in samples collected from people with symptoms.

According to CBS News, an additional 76 cases are considered “probable” with those people having shown symptoms and tested positive in an antibody or antigen test.

The person who died of the infection was a contractor who worked at the paper mill. His name has not been released yet.

Of the 96 total cases, about a dozen have required hospitalisation, according to authorities.

According to CDC, blastomycosis is caused by a fungus that primarily lives in moist soil and decomposing organic matter, such as wood, and it spreads through the inhalation of spores.

Symptoms can include fever and cough, and people with more weakened immune systems may have more severe cases. The infection can spread to the lungs and other organs, the CDC says.

Brian Peterson, the mill’s vice president of operations said: “Although the source of the infection has not been established, we continue to take this matter very seriously and are following recommendations from health and government officials and implementing numerous, proactive steps to protect the health and safety of our employees, contractors and visitors.”

The company said in a statement: “Identifying the source of the fungal outbreak can be difficult because the Blastomyces fungus is endemic to our area and there has never been an industrial outbreak of this nature documented anywhere in the US from which we can learn.”

On Thursday last week, Christoph Michalski, Billerud’s president and CEO said in a statement: “As a precautionary measure, we will temporarily idle the Escanaba Mill for up to three weeks to facilitate additional proper cleaning based on recommendations from NIOSH and other organisations, which requires larger portions of the mill to be vacant while this work is performed.”