Fungal outbreak at Michigan paper mill suspected to have infected nearly 100 workers

Health officials are investigating nearly 100 suspected cases of a potentially severe fungal infection at a Michigan paper mill, nearly one month after it was alerted to “atypical” pneumonia cases.

The investigation began in March when 15 employees of the Escanaba Billerud Paper Mill appeared to be sick early in the year, Public Health Delta & Menominee Counties said in a release at the time. Testing then indicated that the cases were not pneumonia, but a fungal infection called blastomycosis.