Harold Pierce

Due to medical community opposition, California Assemblyman Vince Fong withdrew a bill late last month that would have mandated doctors to run specific lab testing under suspect valley fever.

Assemblymen Vince Fong and Rudy Salas of Bakersfield proposed a $7 million budget proposal that, if adopted, would be the most money ever allocated to study and awareness of the disease in California.

Just 48 people have signed up across California and Arizona for a new clinical trial of Fluconazole, an antifungal drug used to treat valley fever. That's far fewer than officials had expected.

Bakersfield lawmakers requested $3 million in the state budget last week to research treatments and conduct outreach for valley fever.

California Assemblyman Rudy Salas' introduced a new package of four bills on Monday that aim to boost valley fever awareness and treatment.

Advocates for valley fever research give California Assemblyman Rudy Salas an “A” for effort for the "most robust" legislative effort to address the disease in state history.

Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, will introduce two bills Wednesday aimed at combating valley fever, the orphan disease which infected Californians at epidemic levels last year.

Researchers say a new test for valley fever can return nearly 100 percent accurate results in under two hours. It’s a breakthrough for the orphan disease.

The workers fell ill earlier this year while working on a solar panel project in Monterey County after six employers allowed serious lapses in training and safety precautions.