Valley Fever sparks fears as experts warn deadly fungal infection that kills 1 in 100 sufferers may spread to 17 states

THE fungal infection that kills one in 100 patients, known as valley fever, can spread to 17 states, experts have warned.

While Valley Fever, also known as Coccidioides, is typically found in warm, dry climates, particularly the Southwest, there are growing concerns that it will spread to other areas of the United States.

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If climate change worsens, the fungus could spread to more parts of the US, said Dr. Paris Salazar-Hamm, a researcher at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, told USA TODAY.

Valley fever could spread from 12 to 17 states in a “high warming scenario,” according to a 2019 study by AGU (Advancing Earth and Space Science), with cases rising 50 percent by 2100.

“Fungal pathogens are a group that is widely overlooked, and valley fever is an interesting model because it’s associated with climate,” Salazar-Hamm said.

While the fungus that causes Valley fever is found in soil, someone could get it by breathing in the microscopic fungus from the air, according to the CDC.

However, it cannot spread from person to person.

“As temperatures get warmer and the western half of the US stays fairly arid, our desert-like soils will expand, and these drier conditions could allow coccidioids to live in new places,” said Morgan Gorris, a research associate at Los Alamos National Laboratory , said NBC News.

According to the California Department of Health and Human Services, 97 percent of all cases of fever in the US Valley are reported in Arizona and California.

In addition to the southwestern United States, you can also get the infection in parts of South America, Mexico, and Central America.

It has also been discovered in south-central Washington.

The CDC warns that Valley fever is a “serious, costly illness.”

Up to 40 percent of people infected with Valley fever are hospitalized, with the average cost of a hospital stay nearly $50,000.

In 2019, 20,003 cases of Valley fever were reported to the CDC, with an average of about 200 deaths per year in the U.S. from 1999 to 2019, the CDC said.

Most people have only mild to no symptoms, said Dr. Manish Butte, professor and department head of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles, told USAnTODAY.

However, there is a small subset of patients in whom the fungus “spreads rapidly and destructively throughout the body” and eats meat for sustenance, he said.

Valley fever symptoms can resemble other respiratory disease symptoms, which can delay diagnosis and treatment, the CDC warns.

Common symptoms of valley fever are:

• tiredness (fatigue)
• Cough
• Fever
• shortness of breath
• Headache
• night sweats
• muscle pain or joint pain
• Rash on the upper body or legs

It takes weeks or even months for symptoms to go away without treatment.

Antifungal drugs can help relieve symptoms or prevent the infection from getting worse.

However, people with severe lung infections, or in cases where the infection has spread to other parts of the body, will always need antifungal treatment and may need to be hospitalized, according to the CDC.

While there is currently no human vaccine for Valley fever, researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson have developed a vaccine that is highly effective in dogs, NBC News reports.

The vaccine for dogs could be approved by the US Department of Agriculture by early 2024.