CDC says Valley Fever fungus cases could rise by 25 times in coming years due to climate change
A deadly fungus for which there is no vaccine is expected to surge over the coming decades, according to alarming official predictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( ) estimates that in the coming decades, Valley Fever could infect more than half a million Americans each year - compared to around 20,000 who currently fall sick annually. The agency said that due to rising temperatures across the globe, the endemic region of the disease will spread north could be by 2100. Valley fever - which got its name because 97 percent of cases are found in and - is caused by the fungus Coccidioides, which releases spores in the air when soil is disturbed. The spores are then inhaled by people. The infection - which kills one in 100 who fall ill - is commonly misdiagnosed and often mistaken for pneumonia. Symptoms include fatigue, cough, fever, aching muscles and breathlessness. Nick Duggan, an Australian man who was told by doctors he'd 'never walk or hold his kids again' after he contracted the deadly disease in 2010. The preliminary CDC figures were disclosed in a presentation by the health agency to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in November 2022 but have only recently come to light. It is not clear when the CDC expect cases to hit 500,000 annually. DailyMail.com has approached the agency for clarification. Samantha Williams, an epidemiologist with the CDC's Mycotic Diseases Branch, told : 'There's just not a ton of awareness or knowledge about the disease. 'We do see a lot of travel-associated cases; we've seen reports of cases popping up in places where we wouldn't have typically expected Valley fever to be endemic.' Most people with the mild form of infection will not realize because its symptoms fatigue, cough, fever, aching muscles and breathlessness mimic those of a respiratory virus infection. The disease can often get missed by doctors and misdiagnosed as pneumonia. Other symptoms include night sweats, joint aches and a red rash, usually on the legs but occasionally on the chest, arms and back. But up to ten percent of cases become severe and take months to recover from. In these cases, known as disseminated coccidioidomycosis, the disease can spread through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, including the brain, skin and liver. If it infects the membranes and fluid around the brain, it can cause meningitis. Meanwhile, Dr John Galgiani, director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, : 'Right now, if youre diagnosed with pneumonia, there is about a one in five chance that your pneumonia is caused by Valley fever.' He added: 'If you live in Arizona and you get pneumonia, you should be tested for Valley fever.' Coccidioidomycosis or cocci originates from a fungus that grows in the soil in some areas of California and the southwestern US. The fungus spore is whipped up into the air when the soil is disturbed by the wind or digging. When humans or animals breathe in the spores, they travel through the respiratory tract and into the lungs, where they reproduce, causing further disease. Most infections are mild and clear up on their own within a few days or weeks, and the disease cannot be passed between people or animals. Mr Duggan, the Australian native who caught Valley Fever in 2010, told DailyMail.com he most likely contracted the illness while quad biking in the San Diego desert, where he was visiting his wife's family. He thinks he inhaled the fungus spores kicked up in the dust. By the time doctors had figured out what it was, the infection had spread to his spine and brain and caused meningitis, which left him bedridden for four months and in and out of the hospital for five years. Valley fever is already tricky to treat, and there is no vaccine for it. Patients might have to take antifungal medication for months and endure unpleasant side effects such as hair loss and scaly skin. Scientists have been trying to formulate a Valley Fever vaccine for decades, but a shot tested in humans in the 1980s did not perform well. In the past few years, scientists from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson have created a vaccine that works in dogs, who are also at risk of the infection. The US Department of Agriculture could approve the shot for canines by early 2024, which would be the first one to protect against a fungal infection in humans or animals in America.