Health Hazard Evaluation Program: Evaluation of Blastomycosis Outbreak Among Workers at a Pulp and Paper Mill [HHE-2023-0065-3414]

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Evaluation of Blastomycosis Outbreak Among Workers at a Pulp and Paper Mill
• Personal Author:
  Stanton, Marcia L. ; O'Connor, Allyson W. ; Park, Ju-Hyeong ; Liang, Xiaoming ; Bailey, Rachel L. ; Harvey, R. Reid ; LeBouf, Ryan ; Shi, Dallas ; Callaway, Perri C. ; Cox-Ganser, Jean M. ; Hines, Stella E.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  We received a management request for a health hazard evaluation at a pulp and paper mill. The request stated concerns about potential exposure to Blastomyces fungus resulting in an outbreak of blastomycosis among employees, contractors, and visitors. Blastomycosis is a potentially severe illness that can occur after breathing in fungal spores from the air. In response to this request, we conducted a medical survey, collected environmental samples, and performed a ventilation assessment. This pulp and paper mill produced paper for commercial printing and label applications. The mill is situated on approximately 2,000 acres along a river. At the time of our survey, the mill employed about 890 workers and contractors from several companies onsite for routine operations.
• Subjects:
  Blastomycosis Fungi Occupational Health Safety Ventilation
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  82 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070964
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2025]. Evaluation of blastomycosis outbreak among workers at a pulp and paper mill. By Stanton ML, O’Connor AW, Park JH, Liang X, Bailey RL, Harvey RR, LeBouf R, Shi D, Callaway PC, Cox-Ganser JM, Hines SE. Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 2023-0065-3414, https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/2023-0065-3414.pdf.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  322120 - Paper Mills - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c83c4dff7ae1b89c8ef53c845c3cba2d0b80ae62ac3ddd44ada48c218c7d2c5aab055a8808e2e7a17f93fda8ae3e75bd45841e1f8f3c3aad1cc57c2870b1482c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/232222/cdc_232222_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.17 MB ]