[meteorite-list] Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) (Includes Online Map)

From: lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu <lebofsky_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:52:24 -0700
Message-ID: <fa9d3edf7d2eee08874313806c4c7924.squirrel_at_webmail.lpl.arizona.edu>

I was part of a test for a vaccine about 25 years ago (did not work). It
is interesting that, if you live here or in the Mohave area and have a
cough and fever, they will immediately test of Valley Fever (a skin test).
However, a friend of mine, who lived in the LA area, had the symptoms and
ended up in the hospital and nearly died before they realized he had been
hiking in the San Jacquin Valley and had come down with Valley Fever.

And, yes, it is also caught by dogs and very serious (not sure about cats).

Larry

> 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.
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Received on Tue 25 Sep 2012 12:52:24 AM PDT