Valley Fever in Humans

Valley Fever derives its name from its discovery in the San Joaquin Valley of California, where it was also referred to as " San Joaquin Valley fever", "desert fever" or "desert rheumatism". The medical name for Valley Fever is coccidioidomycosis (often shortened to "cocci", pronounced KOK-SEE), meaning a fungal infection ("mycosis") caused by the fungus Coccidioides.

Valley Fever is prevalent in the San Joaquin and Central Valleys of California, and in the hot, desert regions of southern Arizona (especially in the Phoenix and Tucson areas), southern Nevada, southern Utah, southern New Mexico, western Texas (especially around El Paso), and Mexico (in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua). In addition, Coccidioides is found in semiarid and arid soils in Central and South America.