The largest cluster of advanced black lung disease ever reported has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, from a in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The 416 cases of progressive massive fibrosis occurred in three clinics in southwestern Virginia from 2013 to 2017. Another 154 additional diagnoses were made in those clinics since the end of that study, NPR reports.
Black lung was nearly eradicated in the mid-1990s, but longer work shifts and lower grade coal seams, which creates more silica dust when mined, may have contributed to the resurgence. Also, more people are coming into clinics to be checked, perhaps because of the medical and wage replacement benefits provided by black lung compensation programs.