#ClimateCrisis #ValleyFever

"More Awareness Needed as Climate Change Could Spread Valley Fever

The changing environment—urbanization, industrialization and climate change—is leading to the spread of Coccidioides. Until recently, the fungus that causes Valley fever lived mostly in the southwestern United States, but today clinicians throughout the country should keep an open mind about this condition (JAMA Insights 2025 Feb 20. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.27274).

'Valley fever is caused by Coccidioides, a fungus that prefers dry areas,' said Pamela S. Lee, MS, MD, of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, in Torrance, Calif. 'Valley fever refers to the San Joaquin Valley [in California], but also has ‘hot spots’ in Arizona and Texas.'

Coccidioides resides in soil, and its growth is thought to increase with heavy precipitation. In their paper, Dr. Lee and her colleagues discussed how several years of drought followed by the very wet storms in California in 2022-2023 led to 'record-high numbers of coccidioidomycosis in 2023.'

Climate change has already increased temperatures and evaporative demand (i.e., the propensity of air to drive evaporation from the land surface and bodies of water) in the U.S. These changes have increased drought severity and soil dryness in the American West, with further increases anticipated depending on future global warming trajectory,' Dr. Lee and her team wrote. 'Decreases in soil moisture and/or increasingly wide or frequent swings between dry and wet conditions may promote environmental settings increasingly favorable to Coccidioides growth and dispersion.'

Coccidioidomycosis occurs with inhalation of spores that emerge from the soil when areas dry out, explained John Galgiani, MD, a professor of medicine in infectious diseases at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson."

https://www.idse.net/Fungal-Infection/Article/10-25/More-Awareness-Needed-as-Climate-Change-Could-Spread-Valley-Fever/78485

In #Arizona, a fight against a deadly #fungus is under threat from #Trump’s health policies

What one doctor’s quest to stop #ValleyFever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.

by Zoya Teirstein, October 2, 2025

Excerpt: "Valley fever is endemic to southern #WashingtonState, #Oregon, #California, #Nevada, #Utah, #NewMexico, #Texas, and parts of #CentralAmerica and #SouthAmerica, but nowhere are cases of the disease more common than in Arizona. After Arizona started mandatory laboratory reporting for valley fever in 1997, registered cases ticked up and down. But the number began trending upward dramatically in 2016. Then, in 2024, cases in the state exploded, hitting their second-highest total ever. More than 15,000 infections were reported — a 37 percent increase over 2023. California, which runs just behind Arizona in its annual valley fever caseload, registered a record-breaking 12,637 cases in 2024, representing a 39 percent increase over the previous year, which had already smashed a record set in 2019.

"Some portion of the rise in reported cases represents growing awareness among physicians and an associated surge in testing. The pace of new construction in #UntouchedAreas also plays a role.

"But the recent increase in cases has been so dramatic, Galgiani and other researchers across the West who study the fungus think another factor may be driving the trend: #supersoaker winter #monsoons followed by scorching summer #heat and #drought, a cycle made more intense by #ClimateChange.

"Because warmer air holds more moisture, monsoons and other major rainfall events pull in larger quantities of water vapor and produce heavier downpours as the planet warms. This physical fact has fueled a spate of #MonsterFloods across the U.S. and around the world in recent years. But the same warmth can conversely lead to drought by making the atmosphere 'thirstier,' or capable of absorbing more water from the land’s surface. Both conditions facilitate the spread of valley fever — the wetter conditions by encouraging growth of the #spores, and the drier by facilitating desiccation and soil disturbance.

" 'The main driver for us is certainly this very clear association for #coccidioides between heavy precipitation cycles followed by drought,' said George Thompson, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine who specializes in #FungalDiseases.

"And it’s not just valley fever that may increase its spread thanks to climate change. Peer reviewed research shows that fungal threats of all kinds are poised to emerge and thrive in a warming world."

https://grist.org/health/valley-fever-arizona-fungus-climate-change/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#ExtremeWeather #ClimateCrisis #Disease

#ValleyFever

From The USA Today: This growing fungal disease outbreak spreads through dust and dirt

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/09/22/valley-fever-fungal-disease-spreading-soil/85954612007/

Gillian Mohney: 'They're not going to live normally': A devastating disease has surged in #California

#ValleyFever #ClimateChange
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/valley-fever-cases-increase-california-20822556.php

Regional: #ValleyFever Cases On The Rise In Central Coast And Central Valley Areas

https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/regional-valley-fever-cases-on-the-rise-in-20819927.php

Dogs may be sniffing out more than squirrels—they could predict where Valley fever will hit humans next. New research suggests they’re the key. #OneHealth #ValleyFever #ZoonoticThreats

https://geekoo.news/dogs-might-be-the-early-warning-system-for-a-hidden-human-health-threat/

#ClimateChange #disease #California #ValleyFever

"A new study led by researchers at UC Berkeley reveals that longer, drier summers in California can extend the transmission season of Valley fever, a fungal disease that is emerging across the southwestern U.S.

Cases of Valley fever in California typically rise in the late summer and decline in the winter. The study, published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, finds that shifts in seasonal rainfall patterns—such as those anticipated with climate change—shift the start of the transmission season earlier, and prolong its duration.

Valley fever, or coccidioidomycosis, is caused by inhaling spores of the fungus Coccidioides, which is found in arid soils of the southwestern United States. The spores can become airborne when soil is disturbed by wind, construction, or other activities. California has seen record-breaking Valley fever incidence in recent years, raising concerns that climate change may further exacerbate the disease’s spread. Symptoms of Valley fever range from fever, cough, and chest pain to severe complications in some individuals, including pneumonia and meningitis."

https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/research-highlights/longer-drier-summers-extend-valley-fever-transmission

Osterholm compares #H5N1 to #ValleyFever.

From: @Brad
https://zeroes.ca/@Brad/113892403823178901

Dust devil: Climate change may be driving an expansion of Valley fever, a deadly fungal infection spread by airborne spores

"In several counties of both Arizona and California where cases had been relatively rare, disease incidence has increased dramatically during the past 5 to 10 years."
...
"The average delay between seeking medical care and being diagnosed with Valley fever is 38 days. More than half of patients see a provider three or more times before anyone thinks of testing them. Because results can take days to weeks to come back, patients may disappear in the meantime. What’s more, the disease is a great masquerader. It can appear to be a skin infection called cellulitis and has regularly been misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. One patient in Phoenix, 69-year-old Lori Doemland, had no symptoms apart from loss of balance and muscle spasms when she got the disease in 2021. A doctor suggested to her husband that she see a psychiatrist."
#coccidioidomycosis #fungalDisease #Climate #ValleyFever https://www.science.org/content/article/climate-change-may-be-driving-spread-deadly-fungus-u-s-southwest