AN OUTBREAK OF HISTOPLASMOSIS AT AN ARKANSAS COURTHOUSE, WITH FIVE CASES OF PROBABLE REINFECTION

Abstract

An outbreak of histoplasmosis occurred at a county courthouse in Arkansas in July, 1975. Fifty cases were identified by symptoms and positive complement fixation (CF) tests and 18 others by the clinical findings alone. Only three positive CF tests (greater than or equal to 1:8) were found in a control group of 55 unexposed persons of the same age. The attack rate for 84 courthouse employees was 52%. Histoplasma capsulatum was isolated from the sputum of two cases, and from bird droppings which had been dumped from the roof of the courthouse two weeks before the epidemic's peak. Window air conditioners apparently helped to distribute infectious particles throughout the building. Nine exposed people had pulmonary calcifications and a negative tuberculin test that were taken as presumptive evidence of previous histoplasmosis. Five (55%) of these became ill. Exposed persons without pulmonary calcifications had an attack rate of 85%. The reinfected cases during convalescence had higher serum CF titers but not larger histoplasmin skin test diameters than the rest of the cases. A microdroplet aerosol of cooking oil was used to simulate air flow patterns during the exposure, and the results agreed with the hypothesized means of infection.