Valley fever, the deadly fungal infection spreading across the US “due to climate change”

A deadly fungal infection is sweeping the US, and scientists believe it’s due to climate change.

Cases of Valley Fever, which is 10 times deadlier than the flu, have increased 20-fold since the turn of the century.

It is caused by the fungus Coccidioides, which releases spores into the air when soil is disturbed, which are inhaled by people, usually construction workers who care for the soil.

The fungus thrives in hot, dry environments and was named Valley Fever because 97 percent of cases are found in Arizona and California. But infections have begun to emerge in other parts of the country, and experts fear that by 2100 it could be in 17 states.

Its rise comes amid heightened fears about fungal outbreaks, following HBO’s hit doomsday show. ‘The Last of Us’, which represents a fungus that turns victims into zombies.

The infection was named Valley Fever because 97 percent of cases are found in Arizona and California.

‘The Last of Us’ follows smuggler Joel (right) as he escorts teenager Ellie (left) through Boston, Massachusetts, USA, as a fungus spreads across the globe.

‘The Last of Us’ is set in a world where a fungus spreads that turns victims into zombies called ‘Clickers’ (pictured)

While valley fever cannot turn the host into a zombie, it can cause serious harm to some patients, killing as many as one in 100 who contract the infection.

Coccidioidomycosis or cocci originates from a fungus that grows in the soil in some areas of California and the southwestern United States.

The spore of the fungus becomes airborne when wind or digging disturbs the soil.

When humans or animals inhale the spores, they travel through the respiratory tract to the lungs, where they reproduce and can cause further illness.

Most infections are mild and clear up on their own in a few days or weeks, and the infection cannot be passed between people or animals.

Most people with the milder form of a yeast infection won’t realize it because their symptoms (fatigue, cough, fever, muscle pain, and shortness of breath) are similar to those of a respiratory virus infection.

Other symptoms include night sweats, joint pains, and a red rash, usually on the legs, but occasionally on the chest, arms, and back.

But up to ten percent of cases become severe and take months to recover.

In these cases, known as disseminated coccidioidomycosis, the disease can spread through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, including the brain, skin, and liver. If it infects the membranes and fluid that surrounds the brain, it can cause meningitis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 20,000 cases of valley fever were reported in 2019.

That’s probably an underestimate, he said, since valley fever has often been misdiagnosed because doctors don’t know enough about it, so patients aren’t even tested for the fever.

About one in 100 people with valley fever die each year.

The fungus is endemic to the desert parts of the Southwest, with 97 percent of all US cases found in Arizona and California.

But study in the journal GeoHealth He predicted that due to climate change, the endemic region of the fungus will extend north to include dry western states such as Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

In a high warming scenario, this would mean that by 2100 the number of affected states could increase from 12 to 17, while the number of cases could increase by 50 percent.

In October last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the first list of pathogenic fungi that pose a risk to human health.

Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Assistant Director General for Antimicrobial Resistance, said: “Emerging from the shadows of the bacterial antimicrobial resistance pandemic, fungal infections are growing and increasingly resistant to treatments, becoming a public health problem worldwide.

Valley fever is already difficult to treat and there is no vaccine for it. Patients may need to take antifungal medications for months and suffer unpleasant side effects such as hair loss and scaly skin.

Scientists have been trying to formulate a valley fever vaccine for decades, but an injection tested in humans in the 1980s didn’t work well.

In recent years, scientists at the University of Arizona School of Medicine in Tucson have created a vaccine that works in dogs, which are also at risk of Valley fever.

The US Department of Agriculture could approve the canine vaccine as early as 2024, which would be the first to protect against a fungal infection in humans or animals in the United States.