What is valley fever and how is it spread?
Valley fever is an infection spread by a fungus that grows in the top few inches of soil in parts of the American West. It is transmitted when the soil is disturbed and fungal spores become airborne. People and animals such as dogs, cats, sheep and cattle become ill by inhaling the spores. Valley fever cannot be spread from person to person.
The disease primarily affects the lungs, but can spread to other parts of the body. Although most people have mild or no symptoms, some people become seriously ill and require hospitalization.
The epicenter of the disease is the southwestern United States, including Arizona and Southern California, but the fungus, called Coccidioides,, found as far north as Washington State and as far south as Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America. The fungus has recently been discovered in other parts of the western United States, which may be due in part to climate change creating environmental conditions that are conducive to its growth.
Who is at greatest risk?
Anyone who lives, visits, or works in areas where the fungus exists can become ill with valley fever. People who work in agriculture, construction, and other occupations that involve working in or near contaminated dirt and street dust are at higher risk.
Certain demographic groups are also at higher risk of developing later forms of the disease. These include men, people of African and Filipino descent, women in the third trimester of pregnancy, people with HIV/AIDS and cancer, and people with weakened immune systems.
How to prevent valley fever infection?
There is no cure, but using N95 masks in dusty areas where fungus grows can help reduce the risk. A vaccine for dogs is expected to be available as early as late 2025, and a vaccine for humans is currently in the early stages of development.
What are the symptoms of valley fever and how is it diagnosed and treated?
Symptoms may include fever, cough, chills, fatigue, night sweats, headache, shortness of breath, joint and muscle pain, and rash. In severe cases, the disease can spread to other parts of the body, including the skin, bones, joints and brain.
Valley fever is diagnosed through a blood test, and doctors may also use imaging to study the spread of the disease. Without a blood test, valley fever can be mistaken for cancer, tuberculosis, or other diseases.
Although some valley fever infections go away on their own, doctors may prescribe antifungal medications that suppress symptoms but do not kill the fungus. The immune system is ultimately responsible for improving patients' symptoms, so doctors recommend rest and good nutrition as patients recover.
What is being done to combat valley fever?
The National Institutes of Health, the medical research arm of the federal government, has awarded millions of dollars to researchers in three states to study new antifungal drugs, develop rapid tests and better understand why some people develop severe valley fever while others have no symptoms.
At the Arizona Valley Fever Center of Excellence, experts who have studied the disease for decades are working with public health officials and hospitals across the state to ensure that people affected by valley fever receive a diagnosis more quickly. Researchers in California and Arizona are working on a surveillance system that combines real-time weather conditions and construction activity to pinpoint where people are most at risk of inhaling airborne spores.
There are at least four different research initiatives currently underway to discover and develop an effective vaccine. The shot closest to reality, being developed by a pet pharmaceutical company called Anivive Sciences, entered the first of several stages of development for human use last year.
