[meteorite-list] Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) (Includes Online Map)

[Paul H.]

In “Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) Mohave desert 
risk for meteorite hunters and rockhounders et al” at
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2012-September/087421.html
Dirk wrote:

“Ran across this tidbit about an unknown (to me) 
RISK FACTOR while Mohave meteorite hunting (in a 
article about fossil bugs): 
http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/barstowfossils/barstowfossils.html “

You are quite right, Valley / San Jaoquin Fever is a risk 
factor for a lot of people who hunt for meteorites, rocks, 
fossils, minerals, gold, and other stuff within the southwestern 
United States. Areas in which it is a serious concern can 
be seen in a map showing the distribution of valley fever can 
be found at http://www.u.arizona.edu/~comrie/map_color.gif .
It is part of “Andrew C. Comrie Recent & Ongoing Research 
Projects” at http://www.u.arizona.edu/~comrie/projects.htm .

As people have noted in other posts, the inhabitants of  
Tucson and Phoenix live and work in the middle of the 
high risk area. However, valley fever in endemic to a good 
chunk of Texas and parts of other states. Even outside of
the maps areas, i.e. Utah, it can be a concern.

A nice, general discussion and overview of valley fever 
for a person, who is not a trained in medicine, to read is:

Fink, M. T., and K. K. Komatsu, 2001, The Fungus Among 
Us: Coccidioidomycosis (“Valley Fever”) and Archaeologists.
in D. A. Poirier and K. L. Feder, eds., pp. 21 -30, Dangerous 
places : health, safety, and archaeology. Bergin & Garvey, 
Westport, Connecticut. 
https://catalyst.library.jhu.edu/catalog/bib_2173414

Although it is a risk to meteorite hunters and rockhounds, 
archaeologists and paleontologists really have to be 
careful about where they work within the southwestern
United States. For example, this paper notes that between 
1954 and 1978 there were 12 known outbreaks that 
involved multiple people at archaeological and 
paleontological excavations. Also, valley fever is a problem
at Sharktooth Hill, a popular place to dig for Middle 
Miocene vertebrate fossils near Bakersfield, California.

Some web pages about Coccidioidomycosis are:

Coccidioidomycosis (Valley / San Jaoquin Fever), California 
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/discond/Pages/Coccidioidomycosis.aspx
http://ehis.fullerton.edu/OHS/InjuryAndIllnessPrevention/ValleyFeverInformation.aspx

Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever), Arizona 
http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/disease/cocci/

Coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever), Utah 
http://health.utah.gov/epi/fact_sheets/cocci.html
http://health.utah.gov/epi/diseases/cocci/plan/Coccidioidomycosis%20Plan_03242011.pdf

Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever)
http://www.cdc.gov/fungal/coccidioidomycosis/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccidioidomycosis

Best wishes,

Paul H.