Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) (Includes Online Map)
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(click on image to enlarge)
Source: University of Arizona
Andrew C. Comrie Recent & Ongoing Research
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In “Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) Mohave desert
risk for meteorite hunters and rockhounders et al” at
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2012-September/087421.html
Dirk wrote:
“Ran across this tidbit about an unknown (to me)
RISK FACTOR while Mohave meteorite hunting (in a
article about fossil bugs):
http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/barstowfossils/barstowfossils.html “
You are quite right, Valley / San Jaoquin Fever is a risk
factor for a lot of people who hunt for meteorites, rocks,
fossils, minerals, gold, and other stuff within the southwestern
United States. Areas in which it is a serious concern can
be seen in a map showing the distribution of valley fever can
be found at
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~comrie/map_color.gif .
It is part of “Andrew C. Comrie Recent & Ongoing Research
Projects” at
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~comrie/projects.htm .
As people have noted in other posts, the inhabitants of
Tucson and Phoenix live and work in the middle of the
high risk area. However, valley fever in endemic to a good
chunk of Texas and parts of other states. Even outside of
the maps areas, i.e. Utah, it can be a concern.
A nice, general discussion and overview of valley fever
for a person, who is not a trained in medicine, to read is:
Fink, M. T., and K. K. Komatsu, 2001, The Fungus Among
Us: Coccidioidomycosis (“Valley Fever”) and Archaeologists.
in D. A. Poirier and K. L. Feder, eds., pp. 21 -30, Dangerous
places : health, safety, and archaeology. Bergin & Garvey,
Westport, Connecticut.
https://catalyst.library.jhu.edu/catalog/bib_2173414
Although it is a risk to meteorite hunters and rockhounds,
archaeologists and paleontologists really have to be
careful about where they work within the southwestern
United States. For example, this paper notes that between
1954 and 1978 there were 12 known outbreaks that
involved multiple people at archaeological and
paleontological excavations. Also, valley fever is a problem
at Sharktooth Hill, a popular place to dig for Middle
Miocene vertebrate fossils near Bakersfield, California.
Some web pages about Coccidioidomycosis are:
Coccidioidomycosis (Valley / San Jaoquin Fever), California
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/discond/Pages/Coccidioidomycosis.aspx
http://ehis.fullerton.edu/OHS/InjuryAndIllnessPrevention/ValleyFeverInformation.aspx
Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever), Arizona
http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/disease/cocci/
Coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever), Utah
http://health.utah.gov/epi/fact_sheets/cocci.html
http://health.utah.gov/epi/diseases/cocci/plan/Coccidioidomycosis%20Plan_03242011.pdf
Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever)
http://www.cdc.gov/fungal/coccidioidomycosis/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccidioidomycosis
Best wishes,
Paul H.
