Blasto

[Timberline Echoes]

If any cachers in WI are not aware of blasto please learn about it. Maybe Elfdoctor has some info.

We had a teenage boy die up here today. He had been treated as if he had pnemonia and it was blasto. He is the 3rd person we know who has died that way. We also know 5 people personally that have been treated for it and are doing fine.

The key is catching it early and treating it right away. Many dogs get it.

I don’t have the details in front of me but I know it is a spore that grows around rivers, esp. the WI river. when soil is moved it goes in the air and enters the lungs. It attaches and grows giving pnemonia like symptoms up to several months after exposure.

Just be aware but not afraid.
TE

[GrouseTales]

My buddy lost two dogs to Blasto. His brother-in-law also got it and almost killed him. They have a cabin in Eagle River, and they figured they caught it up there.

It’s good to know about it just in case you have symptoms. I don’t think that most Dr’s are too quick to pick up on it. If you can plant the seed, they may catch it quicker.

I always wear a respirator mask when geocaching in Eagle River area. 😛

[cheezehead]

There have been many cases of dogs dying caused by blasto here also and a good buddy of mine also had it. He was a photographer and and did a lot of shoots along the Namekagon River. It’s not too common around here, but every once in awhile you hear of a case. I know it took my buddy over a year to recover and that he never has gotten back to 100%.

[Doc.]

Wow, I treated a dog wholistically that was quickly loosing the battle to blasto and he lived to tell about it. Doing great. Crap, now I’m going to have to find that lady and go back through what all we did. A lot had to do with abruptly changing the dog’s pH through diet, some herbs, some homeopathy. It was amazing to watch that dog come around within a coupla hours, and back to his old self within several weeks.

[greyhounder]

Are you talking about Blastomycosis?

This here?

Sounds horrible!!

Hope all you northern cachers are okay!

Bec

[furfool]

Not to belittle things like this, but 1-2 in 100,000 people doesn’t sound too risky to me. When is the most likely time of year to catch this thing and under what conditions? I mean with all of these illnesses I have read about lately, it’s a wonder that there is any rooms left in hospitals. While it may be good information to know, there is no way that I’ll ever remember it. If I get the flu and a sinus infection I now have most of the symptoms of blasto. Like I said, after reading about so many different things lately. I don’t need to worry about another one.

I appreciate the information though.

[elfdoctors]

Sorry to hear about your loss Timberline Echoes.

Burnett County has only had two deaths from blastomycosis in the 16 years that I’ve been here. One was an elderly male who was already ill and undergoing treatment for lung cancer. The other one was a healthy young man around 20 who died within 24 hrs of becoming sick.

Many more dogs are affected. According to a veterinarian friend of mine, the disease clearly has epidemics which tend to be most common during the late summer.

Fortunately, well over 90% of human infections are completely asymptomatic and the great majority of the ones which do make people ill, will go away without treatment. It’s probably not worth losing any sleep over. There are many more important health risks which should be addressed like smoking (or even second hand smoke).

[Ray]

To try to put it in perspective:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00043101.htm
During 1986-1995, a total of 670 cases of blastomycosis were reported to DOH, representing a statewide [Wisconsin] mean annual incidence rate of 1.4 cases per 100,000 persons.

http://www.cdc.gov/tb/surv/surv2006/pdf/table41.pdf
In 2004 there were 95 confirmed cases of Tuberculosis in Wisconsin [about 2/100,000]

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/statistics/risk_state.htm
In 2004 the risk of getting lung cancer in Wisconsin was greater than 45/100,000

[AuntieNae]

Timberline Echos,

I had friends who lived in the Sugar Camp area (between Rhinelander and Eagle River). Her father spent a week taking care of her kids while they went on a business trip. After going home, several weeks later he was sick and the doctors were stumped. It was not until it was too late that they diagnosed it as blasto. He died a painful death.

Thanks for making people aware.
AuntieNae

[srvive]

Another concern is Histoplasmosis, it is also fungal in nature. A coworker
was grinding a stump (OAK) in one of the County Parks in Brown County
and he to was treated for pneumonia at first, then luckily diagnosed correctly. He was off work for nearly a year, is doing much better now, but time will tell about the effects of treatment and the Histo. They believe it was in the hollowed area of the stump that was dead decaying tree and some animal feces also mixed in, which was very moist and just right for this to take place. Three other workers were also affected that worked this same tree and area, they faired much better with thier contact. One only handled cut to length pieces! This is NOT said to scare anyone just to make them more informed if such a situtation would cross you or your friends path in life.

[Author]

Posts