title: [An unusual outbreak of histoplasmosis in residents of the state of Mexico].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to establish whether there was a histoplasmosis outbreak among a group of residents of Naucalpan (State of Mexico, a non-endemic area for histoplasmosis) and to ascertain the source through which they were infected.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anyone associated with the Index Case in the same period with a flu-like infection was considered as a suspected case. Diagnosis was confirmed by clinical examination positive, cultures and positive immunological tests. Date and form of potential exposure were obtained through interviews. Material potentially contaminated with bird or bat droppings was sought and analyzed by PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The outbreak was associated with a trip to El Tamarindo (Veracruz, near the Gulf of Mexico). Patients got sick after digging a hole in the floor inside a house where a treasure had been supposedly buried by a death relative. The pathogen was detected in soil samples at 10 cm below the surface.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study showed that patients contracted histoplasmosis in El Tamarindo, a community where there had been no prior cases of this disease.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Investigación en Epidemiología Clínica, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, México.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corcho-Berdugo
authors.forename: Bertha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Hernández
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palma-Cortés
authors.forename: Amado
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Hernández
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martínez-Rivera
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frías-de León
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reyes-Montes
authors.forename: Eduarda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez-Valadez
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manjarrez-Zavala
authors.forename: Leticia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alfaro-Ramos
authors.forename: Anjarath Lorena
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Higuera-Iglesias
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006660:Histoplasmosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged