Scientists believe that a deadly fungal infection spreading across is due to climate change.
According to DailyMail, cases of ‘Valley Fever’ – is 10 times more deadly than flu – have risen 20-fold since the turn of the century. The infection is caused by a fungus typically endemic to the Southwest.
Caused by the fungus Coccidioides, which releases spores in the air when soil is disturbed. The spores are then inhaled by people, most commonly construction workers.
The fungus allegedly thrives in warm, dry environments and was dubbed Valley Fever because 97 percent of cases are found in Arizona and California.
But infections have begun to crop up in other parts of the country, and experts fear that by 2100 it could be endemic in 17 states.
It comes amid heightened fears about fungal outbreaks, following the hit apocalyptic HBO show ‘The Last of Us,’ which depicts a fungus that turns victims into zombies.
While Valley Fever cannot turn the host into a zombie, it can cause serious harm to some sufferers, and kills one in 100 who contract the infection.
When humans or animals breathe in the spores, they travel through the respiratory tract and into the lungs, where they reproduce, causing further disease.
Most people who have the mild form of infection will not realize because its symptoms — fatigue, cough, fever, aching muscles and breathlessness — mimic those of a respiratory virus infection.
Other symptoms include night sweats, joint aches 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 from.
It is alleged that Valley Fever has been frequently misdiagnosed because doctors do not know enough about it, so patients are not even tested for it.
But a study in the journal GeoHealth predicted that, due to climate change, the endemic region of the fungus will spread 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 rise from 12 to 17, while the number of cases could increase by 50 percent.
In October last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the first ever list of fungal pathogens that pose a risk to human health.Dr Hanan Balkhy, assistant director-general for antimicrobial resistance at WHO, said:
‘Emerging from the shadows of the bacterial antimicrobial resistance pandemic, fungal infections are growing, and are ever more resistant to treatments, becoming a public health concern worldwide.’
Valley fever is already tricky to treat, and there is no vaccine for it. Patients might have to take antifungal medication for months and endure unpleasant side effects such as hair loss and scaly skin.
In the past few years, scientists from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson have created a vaccine that works in dogs, who are also at risk of the infection.
The US Department of Agriculture could approve the shot for canines by early 2024, which would be the first one to protect against a fungal infection in humans or animals in America.
