Outbreak of Histoplasmosis Among Travelers Returning From El Salvador-- Pennsylvania and Virginia, 2008.

The article presents a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on an outbreak of histoplasmosis among U.S. travelers returning from El Salvador. The authors explain that histoplasmosis is a fungal disease acquired from soil contaminated with bird or bat droppings. Nine members of a Pennsylvania-based mission group who had been renovating a church in Nueva San Salvador, El Salvador, in January of 2008 acquired respiratory illness. Statistics generated from information obtained from members of other mission groups that had traveled to the area are presented. The authors believe that the outbreak may have been caused by not using personal protective equipment or decreasing dust generation.