ST. GEORGE — A team of University of Utah researchers is studying a fungal respiratory infection they say is spreading through the soil and dust in Utah.
Researchers don’t yet know exactly which areas of the state have valley fever, but professor of epidemiology Katharine Walter said the fungus could spread further as the climate changes.
An interdisciplinary research team including Walter is trying to map where the fungus that causes the disease can survive and where it might spread. The researchers received $375,000 for the Climate and Health Interdisciplinary Award through the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to help fund their fungus hunt and raise awareness for those at risk of infection.
Valley fever is difficult to track, as the fungus that causes it doesn’t spread from person to person. It grows stealthily in the soil but never emerges above the surface. Symptoms of the sickness are similar to those seen in influenza and include fatigue, cough, fever, shortness of breath, headache, night sweats, muscle aches or joint pain and rash on the upper body or legs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Written by CASSIDY WIXOM, KSL.com.
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