Valley fever is caused by fungus Coccidioides.Valley Fever can be deadly. About 150,000 cases of Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) occur each year in the United States. Of these, approximately 60% occur in Arizona and 30% occur in California. Dogs and other pets also are susceptible. Infection results from breathing tiny fungal spores that are released from the soil into the air. Many infections cause little or no symptoms but approximately a third (~50,000 per year) develop an pneumonia type of illness. Symptoms include coughing, severe fatigue, joint pain, & rashes. Valley Fever pneumonia is often misdiagnosed as a bacterial pneumonia or even lung cancer. Inappropriate treatments compromise health, and don't stop the spread of the fungus. While most healthy people can eventually resolve the cocci fungus on their own, this often takes many weeks or many months. A small percentage of patients develop serious complications such as chronic pneumonia or the spread of the fungus elsewhere in the body such as soft tissues, bone, and sometimes the brain. In such cases, extensive medical attention, antifungal drugs, and surgery may be needed over many years. Occasionally, these severe complications are life-threatening.

Recent Arizona statistics indicate that those with new Valley Fever infections reported to the state miss an average of a month of work, and those who are hospitalized spend an average of $50,000 each on medical expenses. Far too many residents within the endemic region do not know these basic statistics about Valley Fever, let alone how best to manage it on a case by case basis. As Valley Fever is primarily a disease of the Southwest border states, most people outside of this area know even less. Physicians and the public need to be educated to know when to seek treatment and how to diagnose, treat, and recover from this disease. The Valley Fever Center for Excellence (http://www.vfce.arizona.edu) is working to do this and to develop improved diagnostic tests, new antifungal drugs, and preventive vaccines.

裂谷热是可能致命的。美国每年约发生15万例.裂谷热（球孢子菌病）的，在。其中，约60％发生在亚利桑那州, 30％发生在加利福尼亚州。狗等宠物也容易感染。感染是呼吸从土壤中释放到空气中的微小的真菌孢子的结果。许多感染很少或根本没有症状，但约三分之一（约每年50,000）发展疾病的肺炎类型。症状包括咳嗽，严重的疲劳，关节痛，和皮疹。裂谷热肺炎往往误诊为细菌性肺炎甚至肺癌, 导致不适当的治疗。虽然大多数健康的人可以最终恢复，这往往需要许多周或许多个月。少数比例的患者发展严重并发症，如慢性肺炎或真菌在体内，如软组织，骨，有时大脑其他地方蔓延。在这种情况下，病人需要抗真菌药物，手术治疗。恢复可能需要多年。偶尔，严重的并发症，危及生命.