Dogs could contribute to this

Valley fever or coccidioidomycosis is caused by a mushroom that thrives in damp soils and is in the air during the drought. Its spores can easily be inhaled, which leads to infections. Climate change creates the perfect conditions for this in the western United States with increasing rain, followed by longer drought. A new study by the University of California, Davis researcher, shows that dogs that are also susceptible to the disease can help us understand their spread.

“Dogs are guards for human infections,” said the senior author Jane Sykes, professor of internal medicine for small animals at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “You can help us to understand not only the epidemiology of the disease, but also models that help us understand the disease in humans.”

Valley fever is common in animals, especially for dogs that dig into dirt. The study, published in the Journal of infectious diseasesExamined almost 835,000 blood antibodies from dogs that had been tested for infection throughout the country between 2012 and 2022. Almost 40% of them tested positively.

Valley fever

Together with colleagues from UC Berkeley, Sykes also mapped positive results after the location and found Valley fever in dogs from only 2.4% of US land circles in 2012 to 12.4% in 2022.

“We have also found cases in states in which valley fever is not considered endemic,” said Sykes. “We should observe these conditions closely because it can be subordinated in humans.”

The centers for the control and prevention of diseases receive 10,000 to 20,000 reports on human cases every year, but the actual number of cases can be at least 33 times higher. Many states do not require reporting on human cases. The CDC looks at Valley Fever in parts of six states, including Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. The study resulted in Valley fever in dogs in these countries, but also in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.

Sykes said the sheer number of cases cannot be explained by dogs that visit other countries, since dogs travel far less than humans. In addition, the dog cases correlated with human cases, including in well -known Valley fever “Hot Spots” in Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico and Nevada.

States with the highest number of cases

Arizona made up 91.5% of the positive tests, followed by California (3.7%), Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas (2.6% together), Washington, Oregon and Idaho (0.6% together). The remaining conditions (1.3% combined) reported on far less positive results.

Arizona also had the highest incidence rate of another state. The prices were 100 times from those in California, Nevada and New Mexico.

Each state with more than 0.50 tests per 10,000 households per year showed more and more cases of valley fever per 10,000 households in dogs.

Dogs as models for human diseases

Dog breeds who like to dig is a greater risk of maintaining the disease. This includes most medium to large dogs and terriers. Dogs also show some of the same signs of valley fever as people. You can have a cough if the infection develops in your lungs. The fungus can also spread to bones, brain and skin and require lifelong antifungal injections. Dogs can also die from the disease.

Sykes suggested that dogs are an under -hour model for understanding valley fever. By learning more about Valley fever in dogs, scientists can discover new tests or treatments for the disease in humans. You can also help prevent misdiagnosis or non -diagnosed disease in humans.