Humans as well as pets can get Valley Fever. My father had it for many years.. He acquired it while living in our Desert Area - in Sun City. He had it for many many years... never fully recovering from it. -- He did keep it under control with medication. Pets can also get valley fever. Think about it - - dogs love to nose around in the dirt ! ! My dog had Valley and lived for 10 years with it - -that was back in the early 90's. The medication then was very costly so I went shopping for the deals in Nogales (that is when Mexico was a safer place for shopping). My dog had to be on the Valley Fever Meds and that kept her o.k. But this effected her lungs, breathing, and it caused her to lose weight. Many pets do not survive - -because the medicine is costly -- at least it used to be - - owners cannot afford the expense. Maybe the cost has come down in the past 20 years. From Wikipedia: Valley Fever resides in the soil in certain parts of the southwestern United States, most notably in California and Arizona. It is dormant during long dry spells, then develops as a mold with long filaments that break off into airborne spores when the rains come. The spores, known as arthroconidia, are swept into the air by disruption of the soil, such as during construction, farming, or an earthquake. Infection is caused by inhalation of the particles. The disease is not transmitted from person to person. The infection ordinarily resolves leaving the patient with a specific immunity to re-infection. However, in some cases the infection may manifest itself repeatedly or permanently over the life of the host. C. immitis is a dimorphic saprophytic organism that grows as a mycelium in the soil and produces a spherule form in the host organism.
My neighbor has lived in AZ for years and probably knows about Valley Fever. However, she does a lot of digging in her garden and I'm going to remind her of it.
