The weather helps drive the spread of an often-misdiagnosed infection, which kills as many as 1,000 people per year.
Valley fever (coccidioidomycosis) is a lung infection caused by spores from the fungus Coccidioides, which lives in soil in the southwestern United States and south-central Washington state.
A 2005 study of Coccidioidomycosis in Phoenix found that the disease is influenced by the local climate. The study concluded, "On average, peaks in exposure to the fungal spores occur in June to July and in October to November, consistent with the drier and dustier months of the year. Fewer exposures occur in February, March, August and September, consistent with the timing of the wetter and less dusty months."
Dust storms can spur outbreaks of the ailment, and research says increasing dust storms from the 1990s into the 2000s could be making things worse.
Estimated areas with coccidioidomycosis in the United States. Image courtesy of the CDC
