An outbreak of acute histoplasmosis in a family

Abstract

Acute pulmonary histoplasmosis was diagnosed in three members of a New Mexico family that had recently attended a family reunion in Iowa. The treating physicians rapidly documented an outbreak of atypical pneumonia in the family. The clinical features and epidemiology of the outbreak suggest histoplasmosis was contracted during exposure in an abandoned barn. Fever, chills and myalgia were the most common symptoms; shortness of breath occurred frequently.