To the Editor: In his editorial, “Blastomycosis: Leave It to Beaver,” (Feb. 27 issue)1 Dr. William Dismukes comments on the important and original epidemiologic investigation by Klein et al.2 of an outbreak of acute blastomycosis near Eagle River, Wisconsin. The title of the editorial, although “catchy,” is misleading and a disservice to Klein et al., in that it focuses attention on the beavers rather than on the appropriate soil conditions. Dismukes, in describing the key observations of these workers — namely, the importance of “moist soil with a high content of organic material, an acid pH, and exposure to animal… © 1986, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.
