VALLEY FEVER

San Joaquin Valley Fever, now called “Valley Fever” for short, was named because of an outbreak among farm workers in the well known San Joaquin Valley of California. The condition is caused by inhaling dust or dirt contaminated with a fungus of the Coccidiodes genus. The fungus is inhaled into the lung where it may simply cause a low grade chronic cough and calcification (mineralization) of local lymph nodes or, if one’s immune system is weak, it can cause pneumonia or even disseminate throughout the body. 

 
Areas shown in green indicate the prevalence of Valley Fever infections. Outside the U.S.,
areas endemic for infection include Mexico, Central America and parts of South America.
(Photocredit: map courtesy of CDC)

ABOUT THE FUNGUS

The fungus lives only in one area: the Lower Sonoran life zone. This area includes the southwest United States, Mexico and Central America as well as parts of South America. In these places, soil is sandy and alkaline. There is little rainfall. Summer is hot and Winter is cold. Fungal spores (called “arthroconidia”) are released from the ground after a rainfall and are carried by the wind. Earthquakes or high winds or even crop harvesting have led to outbreaks of this infection as any of these conditions can stir up fungal spores.

GETTING SICK

It has been estimated that 60% of animals and people that become infected with this fungus, never get sick. It is only when antibodies indicating past infection show up on a blood test that infection is discovered.

But the other 40% do get sick. It only takes 1-3 weeks from the inhalation of fungal spores before coughing starts. Fever, weight loss, and appetite loss accompany the cough, which can be dry or productive. If illness is limited to the lungs, prognosis is good with appropriate medication and the recovery rate approaches 90%.

If the fungus escapes the lung and travels out elsewhere in the body, the infection is said to have “disseminated," the condition is much more serious. On the average, several months pass between the initial cough (which may be so mild as to have gone undetected) and signs appearing in another organ system. There is an order by which the fungus disseminates in that it appears in certain organs before others. After the lung, the fungus spreads to bone, then eyes, heart, testicles, brain, spinal cord, and abdominal organs. In cats, the pattern is a bit different with the usual disease picture being draining skin lesions with fever, weight loss and poor appetite. The respiratory phase is rarely noted in feline patients.

An animal or person who is sick is not contagious; infection is only through inhalation of a fungal spore released from dirt but only a few spores are necessary for infection to occur.

TESTING

There are several diagnostics that can be helpful with this condition.

Radiographs

The patient with a cough is likely to have his chest radiographed. Findings will not be specific to Valley Fever; large lymph nodes, lung infiltration will likely be found. The point is to rule out other conditions that are more readily identifiable on radiographs such as heart disease, tracheal collapse, or more localized forms of pneumonia. When these more obvious conditions are ruled out, further diagnostics will be needed.

Cytology

If some sort of tracheal wash or lavage is performed (where samples of lung fluid are collected for analysis), it is possible to actually capture some fungal spores. If this occurs, the diagnosis is confirmed, as Coccidiodes species have a fairly characteristic large size and appearance.

A spherule of Coccidiodes fungus in a tissue. The spherule is full of
smaller endospores which will eventually be released and form new spherules.
(Photocredit: CDC Public Health Information Library)
 

Blood testing

TREATMENT

A general rule with any fungal infection is that it takes a long time to clear. Valley Fever is no different and a year of medication administration is fairly common. Treatment continues until the clinical signs have resolved, the radiographs look normal, and the antibody level has stabilized (note antibody levels may never fully drop to zero). Ketoconazole, itraconazole, and fluconazole are the usual drugs for this condition. Monitoring liver enzymes is important with all of these, particularly since such long treatment courses are common.

If the disease is limited to the lung, prognosis is felt to be good. The most severe form of infection appears to involve bone and when multiple bones are infected, complete recovery is unlikely unless amputation is possible. Eye involvement is painful and very difficult to clear short of removing the eye (“enucleation”). Obviously, a patient with any internal fungal infection should avoid immunosuppressive drugs for other conditions as their use could lead to a disastrous fungal dissemination.

Page last updated: 3/9/2023
Page last reviewed: 4/3/2023