A fungal infection caused by Blastomyces dermatitidis. This rare fungal infection may produce inflammatory lesion of the skin or lungs or present as a disseminated disease to the skin, lungs, bones, liver, spleen and central nervous system. Uncommon unless patient is immunocompromised (AIDS). Blastomycosis (also known as "North American blastomycosis", "Blastomycetic dermatitis", and "Gilchrist's disease") is a fungal infection of humans and other animals, notably dogs and occasionally cats, caused by the organism Blastomyces dermatitidis. Endemic to portions of North America, blastomycosis causes clinical symptoms similar to histoplasmosis. The disease occurs in several endemic areas the most important of which is in eastern North America, particularly in the western and northern periphery of the Great Lakes Basin, extending eastward along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River Valley and southward in the territory spanned by the central Appalachian Mountains to the east and the Mississippi River Valley to the west. Sporadic cases have been reported in continental Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent. An OSH glossary used in safety and health at work which is, adopted by ILO