This may get interesting.

I have gardened for 70 years without the mask. Should I be fearful suddenly? I don't think so.

I don't think you should either!
I garden with my 2 year old and unfortunately read about the disease in the paper!
Now I wonder how "real" the possibility of it being in unfertilised soil is.

Wayne, you do know you just jinxed it, don'tcha?

Whether to wear a mask whilst gardening depends on many factors. The dust you may create while working in the garden is not something you want in your lungs because of the potential of developing some disease and if you already have one of the lung diseases a mask may well be imperative since the lungs are already greatly compromised.
Soils do harbor many disease pathogens and for the most part your body has protections to help keep them out of your lungs, but they can be overwhelmed. Farmers, before the advent of the closed cabs on tractors, had a good chance of developing silicosis because of inhaling the dust created as they plowed, harrowed, and cultivated. Many people have gardened, and farmed, all of their lives without a problem while others have come down with one of the lung diseases although some may have been predisposed toward that, Asthma, Emphysema, people deficient in the Alpha One Antitrypsin enzyme (a genetic deficiency), the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) problem.
It is your choice.

No, I never wear a mask, I compost and no problems. It fogs up my glasses so I can't see and it is very uncomfortable. But, if one is very worried about it, then wear one if you can stand it. But, I do not compost with manure. I would wear a mask if I did. One thing is manure is too alkaline for my soil. I do wear sun screen and gloves.

I've said it before, I'll say it again....do not take medical advice from a compost forum.

Lloyd

Please note: not licenced physicians with a specialitiy in lung diseases....(lol)

Of course exposure to dirt makes you smarter:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100524143416.htm

And now they are saying that dirt also makes you happy:

http://www.hortmag.com/blogs/gardening-blog/dirt-can-make-you-happy

So it seems to me that anyone that thinks they need to completely avoid dirt exposure is exactly the person that needs a lot more of it!! Kinda irritates me to think of parents that are overly obsessed about their kids completely avoiding any contact with dirt or anything they consider dirty. To develop smart, happy kids, they need to be able to play in the dirt - regularly. I know I did, a lot. My wife thinks things apparently haven't changed much for me in over 50 years of playing in the dirt.

drmbear, My kids' pediatrition ENCOURAGED the kids to play in the dirt! Being sure they had their tetnus shots up to date since we were around horses. This was 30+ years ago. Even then there were strains of strep that were becoming immune to antibiotics.
My FIL was a very prominent doctor in the LA area and said Kids were getting sicker because they were being raised in such an antiseptic world!
We are being role models, not just in gardening, but how to play in the dirt!!!!! Nancy

Looks like Nancy found the rare medical person with integrity. Not only dirt makes you happier and smarter, it makes you healthier by gently exercising your immune system and helping the diversity of your flora (you all know we are covered with bacteria inside and out, right? a good 5 lbs per person, although most is inside). and 5 pounds, compared to micrograms, is a lot.

I will soon be 62 and have been gardening for most of my life. I truly believe that the stuff in the soil has improved my immune system considerably.

Aside from child hood diseases I have never been, sick a day in my life, never spent a day in the hospital, I have never had the flu and I have never had a flu shot.

I believe that gardening is one of the most healthiest activities one can do.

However, it doesn't hurt to have ear and eye protection when using power tools, including a lawn mower and to wash up within 30 minutes if you suspect you have handled poison ivy.

Before I garden on my 3 acres, I load up the sprayer with a mixture of bleach, alcohol, and detergent and hose the dirt down first.

/really clean worms, I've got.

Everyone has a different opinion, but one will take all the opinions and consider them and do research to find out what they should do. If you were composting without a mask and began to feel short of breathe, that is a good sign you need a mask or to stop composting. When I compost I always feel up in energy and never ill or short of breath. But, everyone is different.

"Before I garden on my 3 acres, I load up the sprayer with a mixture of bleach, alcohol, and detergent and hose the dirt down first. "

Curious, for what purpose?

Bleach is very highly alkaline and alcohol is light to moderately alkaline. Unless it is very dilute, are you not raising the pH of your soil? If it is very dilute, why use it?

Worms like lime (high pH) so they are probably happy.

Emergorok, that was satire, perhaps you missed it. :-D

BTW bleach is an oxidizer and if sodium hypochlorite is all that's there, it's not alkaline. Alcohol is not alkaline either. *However* these things as well as detergent would have a terrible effect on soil life, which was, of course, the joke.

I would not worry about soil unless it was VERY dusty and dry outside and the dust was bothering me (tightness in the chest, sneezing etc.). OR if my immune system was compromised. Compost I try to turn when it's damp, not dry, to reduce dust and spores.

Soil is the ecstatic skin of the Earth, it's an efficient and powerful recycler of wastes, filter system for water, and grower of wonderful things. It is not something to be feared.

It depends on the bleach but you are mostly correct. Some bleaches have a pH of 12.

Back to the topic:

An alternative thought is that if someone uses a lot of sanitizer, disinfectants, and powerful soaps/detergents then one is stripping out the defensive systems already in place.

Sudden exposure to garden ingredients may prove to be of concern. I see gardeners on TV using gloves and they "garden" wearing white pants. When I meet my friends, I appreciate dirt under the fingernails, roughened cuticles, and muddy knees.

I love the smell of dirt in the morning....

If, when working in your garden, you are exposed to the Tetanus pathogen (always in soils) your immune system will do little unless you have received the toxoid boosters regularly. If while working in the garden you inadvertently inhale Diatomaceous Earth your immune system will not stop the damage that can do to your lungs.
If you have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Asthma, or any of the other lung diseases even more care when working in the garden is necessary.
Spraying any powder or liquid substance also poses a potential danger and is why the manufacturers of those products list a respirator as essential when using the product even as directed.

So, as I stated above, It Depends.