United States: Recently, several individuals got infected with a fungal lung infection at an open-air music event in California.
At least nineteen cases of Valley fever were confirmed in individuals who either participated or worked for the “Lightning in a Bottle” festival which took place in Kern country in late May, data released by the California Department of Public Health show.
Not less than eight persons have been also admitted to different hospitals.
More about the disease – Experts
A recent study has established that the cases of Valley fever have risen across the California state over two decades and drought is a possible reason for seasonal peaks.
Valley fever is a lung disease that results from inhaling the spores of fungi referred to as Coccidioides as stated by the CDC.
According to Dr. Daniel Pastula, chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Colorado School of Public Health, “It’s a fungus that lives in soil in certain areas around the world,” ABC reported.
“So, classically, the southwestern United States, so California and Arizona are kind of prime states where this occurs,” Pastula added.
He also pointed out that the fungus could also be present in various parts of Washington state, Mexico, and in Southern and Central America, during “hot, arid summers and mild winters.”
Since the disease was first recognized in the San Joaquin Valley south of California’s Central Valley, the disease has since then being referred to as Valley fever.
However, to this date, the possibility of the spread of the disease from one person to another hasn’t been confirmed. As reported by the CDC, creatures and animals are also vulnerable to Valley fever although it is impossible to transmit it from animals to a human being and the reverse is also true.
The CDC captures those groups of people who are most vulnerable to contracting severe symptoms of the disease and they include persons with a compromised immune system, persons with diabetes, the elderly, pregnant women, and many others.
This is especially dangerous for individuals with lowered immune response, diabetes, elderly people, and women who are pregnant, the CDC noted, as per the information, ABC News provided.