Dozens of people living near Spring Hill and Thompson's Station are suing construction and development companies, claiming dust kicked up at work sites spread the fungal infection histoplasmosis through their neighborhoods. Among the plaintiffs is Gwendolyn Brown, who filed a wrongful-death claim alleging her daughter, Alyssia Brown, died after contracting the illness.
The Williamson County lawsuit claims the companies failed to adequately control dust during excavation, grading and other soil-disturbing work, according to WSMV. Plaintiffs allege they became ill after breathing in spores that were carried from construction sites into the surrounding area. One of the companies named, Jones Bros. Contractors, has asked the court to dismiss the gross-negligence and strict-liability claims against it, arguing the complaint lacks sufficiently specific allegations.
It's important to note what the lawsuit has not proven. The station's report is explicit that the alleged connection between the construction work and the illnesses has not been established in court, and the allegations themselves remain unproven.
What Histoplasmosis Is and How It Spreads
Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by inhaling fungal spores found in soil, often where bird or bat droppings are present, per the same account. Those spores can become airborne when soil is disturbed through construction, demolition or brush clearing, a mechanism that sits at the center of the plaintiffs' claims even though it has not been confirmed as the cause in this case.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, through its NIOSH occupational health program, notes that disturbing soil, plant matter, or accumulations of bird and bat droppings — including during demolition, construction or renovation — is often linked to histoplasmosis outbreaks and isolated cases nationally. A CDC-published study in Emerging Infectious Diseases found that demolition- or construction-related activity was described in about a quarter of documented U.S. histoplasmosis outbreaks reviewed, with soil disruption and dropping disturbance cited more frequently. A CDC-hosted record also documents a histoplasmosis outbreak tied to construction at a state facility in Iowa in 2008, obtained via CDC Stacks.
Case Numbers Have Shifted Across Reports
The scale of the outbreak has been described differently as coverage has unfolded. In late 2025, the Tennessee Department of Health warned of an increase in cases in Williamson and Maury counties, WSMV reported. A separate NewsChannel 5 report said the department had confirmed 40 cases from the 2025 outbreak, with no clear source identified, adding that the case count at the time did not indicate an ongoing outbreak.
Officials told the paper that their investigation had not yet identified a single clear source of exposure causing the increase in illnesses. The Herald also noted that people who work near disturbed soil — including construction workers, farmers and landscapers — are commonly among those at risk of infection.
Lawsuit Size Also Varies by Account
How many people are actually part of the legal action is similarly unsettled across reporting. NewsChannel 5 reported at one point that 30 people had joined a potential lawsuit, while a later NewsChannel 5 report described 50 plaintiffs who lived, worked or spent time in the same stretch of Spring Hill and Thompson's Station suing at least 20 contractors over alleged dust-control failures. Neither account explains the change in those numbers, and no court filing was available to verify the current count.
What remains clear is the human stake behind the filings. Gwendolyn Brown's wrongful-death claim stands apart from the broader group of plaintiffs by alleging the infection proved fatal for her daughter, a claim that, like the rest of the lawsuit, has yet to be tested in court.
