Histoplasma capsulatum, a fungus causing histoplasmosis, was associated with a gull colony site in Michigan, USA. Tuberculosis-like symptoms developed by students working in this colony were traced to Histoplasma infection. H. capsulatum grows within soils having high nitrogen and organic content including rotting wood, compost piles and poultry farms. Several precautions can be taken by researchers working in colonies. If such precautions are followed, there is no public health justification for destruction of such colonies.