The Center for Health Journalism’s “Just One Breath” collaborative on valley fever brought together reporters from the Bakersfield Californian, Radio Bilingüe in Fresno, Valley Public Radio in Fresno and Bakersfield, Vida en el Valle in Fresno, the Voice of OC in Santa Ana, Hanford Sentinel, the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, La Estrella de Tucsón and the Center for Health Journalism.
Valley fever is a fungal respiratory infection that is a constant health threat in vast stretches of the San Joaquin valley.
![Jacquie Green plays with her dogs Maggy and Jack at their foothills home in Tucson, Ariz. Maggy, the wolfhound, has had valley fever for a year and is part of a study on valley fever in dogs being conducted by Tucson veterinarian Dr. Lisa Shubitz. [Photo by Ron Medvescek/Arizona Daily Star]](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser_list_thumbnail_large/public/images/valley-fever-dog-title.jpeg?itok=75A8XBl7)
Researchers say a canine vaccine against valley fever could be available within the next 10 years, and the work to save dogs from the disease could also further efforts to create a valley fever...
Richard Nuwintore's sentence in the California prison system has ended, but the valley fever infection he picked up while doing time is a life sentence. The state is now working to lower the risk for inmates.
The National Institutes of Health is now providing critical support to multiple studies on valley fever. Such research could yield critical new breakthroughs in our understanding of the long-overlooked disease.
“Valley fever is almost certainly underreported, due to physicians and the public not being familiar with the disease,” said one infectious disease specialist. Reliable estimates of valley fever...
A new skin test called Spherusol can detect whether a person has developed immunity to valley fever. But despite its promise, the test still isn’t in wide use.
New sensors in development at the CDC could provide a breakthrough in valley fever detection and prevention throughout the Southwestern United States.
As recently as August, Calif. health officials predicted the number of valley fever cases this year would go down. Now it’s shaping up to be one of the worst years on record.
