Acute nonlymphocytic leukemia. An adult cluster.

Between 1970 and 1973, seven cases of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia were diagnosed in the village of Elmwood, Wis, and the surrounding area. The patients ranged in age from 14 to 97 years. Interpersonal relationships were noted among all patients in the group. This cluster of cases represents a greater than 20-fold increase in the expected incidence of this disease for this population. Morphologic similarities in the blast cells were seen in all cases. This cluster of cases may bear a relationship to bovine leukemia since the town was located in dairy farming country and because a number of the patients had either worked at or lived near the town creamery.