Here is some more information about the outbreaks of blastomycosis in Wisconsin:
Quote:
Distribution is worldwide, primarily in North America and Africa. Endemic areas in the U.S. include the midwest, eastern coast, and along the Mississippi and Namekagon Rivers. There have been several localized epidemics of blastomycosis. There have been a total of 12 documented human outbreaks (ranging from 3 - 48 people) in the U.S., 5 of which came from Wisconsin. Out of the 12 outbreaks, only 2 had positive isolations.
Blastomycosis is not a disease that is required to be reported to the Center for Disease Control on a national scale. However, it was a reportable disease from 1986 -1995 in Wisconsin after 2 human outbreaks in 1985. During those years, a total of 670 cases were reported; 26 of them were fatal. The 10 northern counties in Wisconsin contributed 294 cases of the 670. In 1986, Eagle River, Wisconsin had an outbreak where 48 out of 95 people visiting a camp contracted the disease. Out of 47 environmental samples taken from Eagle River, 2 of them tested positive for Blastomyces, primarily from a beaver lodge. The fungus also seems to be common along the Namekogen River in NW Wisconsin. A Native American (Lac Courte Oreilles band of the Ojibwe) died from this 1997. Seven Namekagon canoeists died in 1979. There was another outbreak in northern Minnesota in 1999. Many people who live in this region fear taking their dogs along the river. A severe outbreak occurred several yearsago along the Des Plaines River near Chicago, where many dogs died in a new subdivision built near the river.
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This was taken from Tom Volk's Fungi of the Month Page:
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/jan2001.html
He's a professor of biology at UW-La Crosse, so I would hope he knows what he's talking about when it comes to mycology in Wisconsin.