The Rise of Valley Fever

Guest: Ian McHardy, Assistant Professor of Medicine, UC Davis, School of Medicine, Co-Director, UC Davis Center for Valley Fever Two years ago California saw more than 6000 cases of a serious and sometimes fatal airborne infection called Valley Fever. In 2017 that number jumped to more than 8000 cases. That figure will likely rise again this year in California, as well as Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah where the fungus that causes Valley Fever is found. If you live in one of those states, you may have had the infection, but didn’t know it. The symptoms are easily confused with pneumonia and it’s commonly misdiagnosed.