Latest news with #EricaPan
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- Climate
- San Francisco Chronicle
Valley fever is rising across California. Numbers are skyrocketing in one coastal county
Valley fever, an infection caused by breathing in fungal spores in dirt or dust, is on the rise across California, according to a news release by the California Department of Public Health. Over 6,700 provisional cases have been reported across California through the first seven months of 2025. The rates are highest in the San Joaquin Valley, the disease's namesake, but cases have been increasing in the northern Central Valley and the Central Coast. 'Valley fever is a serious illness that's here to stay in California,' said California Department of Public Health director and state public health officer Erica Pan, in a statement. 'We want to remind Californians, travelers to California and their healthcare providers to watch for signs and symptoms of valley fever to help detect it early.' The biggest rise in valley fever in recent years has been in coastal Monterey County, which has logged 348 cases in 2025, through the end of July. That's an increase of over 260% compared with the 2023-24 average. Ventura County had the next-highest increase, 92%. California recorded nearly 12,500 cases of valley fever in 2024, the most in a single year. By comparison, the state logged 7,000 to 9,000 cases per year from 2017 through 2023. Valley fever can occur any time of year, but infections typically happen in late summer and fall. The disease is caused by the fungus coccidioides, which grows in the soil in parts of California. Wet winters help the fungus grow while dry, windy weather during warmer months helps spread spores in the air. People living in areas with high rates of valley fever face higher risk of infection, especially if they live or work near where dirt is stirred up, like farms and construction sites. Where valley fever is common, experts recommend people stay inside and keep windows and doors closed when it's windy and dusty outside. They also suggest drivers keep car windows closed and use recirculating air, if possible. Experts recommend that those who have to be outside in dusty air consider using a well-fitted N95 respirator. Not everyone who gets valley fever experiences symptoms. But some people can deal with long-term coughing, fatigue and other flu-like symptoms. In rare cases, valley fever can cause severe lung infections and even become fatal. In 2024, there were at least 19 confirmed cases of valley fever after a music festival in Kern County. Of all California counties, Kern County has logged the highest number of cases of valley fever so far in 2025, with 1,945 provisional cases reported. Over 100 cases of valley fever have been provisionally reported in Contra Costa County in 2025, through the end of July. The total is the most of any Bay Area county. Research indicates that the rise and spread of valley fever may be linked to changes in climate. A 2024 study reported that swings between wet and dry conditions, which are expected to intensify in a warmer world, were associated with more cases of valley fever.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Health
- Miami Herald
California valley fever cases hit record highs again in 2025, state reports
LOS ANGELES - The latest California numbers suggest 2025 will be another record-smashing year for valley fever, the illness linked to drought and precipitation and spread by fungal spores. There were 6,761 cases reported through the end of July, according to state health officials - a significant increase over the 10-year average of 3,833 for that same time period and a slight jump from last year's total of 6,364. The 10-year low was in 2016, when there was less than a quarter of what there is now. Last year's total of nearly 12,500 cases is the most on record for California and far more than the 7,000 to 9,000 cases per year the state averaged between 2016 and 2024. "California had a record year for Valley fever in 2024 and, so far, case counts are high in 2025. Valley fever is a serious illness that's here to stay in California," said Erica Pan, director of the state public health department. Officials say the current count is likely to be revised upward as there are often delays in reporting. Valley fever is most prevalent in the San Joaquin Valley and southern part of the state where the fungus, Coccidioides, thrives in dry, arid soil. Case numbers are also climbing in the northern Central Valley, though, and along the state's Central Coast. Researchers speculate the rise is tied to patterns of drought and precipitation. Periods of severe drought followed by wet winter and dry summer seem to coincide with more people getting sick. They also suspect climate change has expanded the fungi's range into areas where it was previously rare. For instance, since 2023, Monterey County's case numbers have exploded. There were 47 cases in 2023 and 348 this year as of July 31. Cases also doubled since 2023 in Contra Costa, Fresno, San Luis Obispo and Merced counties. People contract Valley fever by inhaling the Coccidioides spores, released when wind, wildfire, tractors, bulldozers, digging or even dancing disturbs the soil. Last year, at least 19 people who attended Lightning in a Bottle, a five-day music and art festival held at Buena Vista lake in Kern County, got sick - including several with pneumonia-like symptoms, rashes, headaches and exhaustion. But most people infected won't get symptoms and will fight off the infection naturally. Those who do feel sick may be hard-pressed to know what they have, since the symptoms are similar to COVID or the flu, further complicating efforts to address the disease. "We want to remind Californians, travelers to California and their healthcare providers to watch for signs and symptoms of Valley fever to help detect it early," Pan said. In rare cases, the fungus can spread to other parts of the body and cause severe disease or death. Valley fever is not contagious. Pan urged people to seek help from a medical provider if they've had a cough, fever, trouble breathing and tiredness for more than 7 to 10 days - especially if they've been outdoors in dusty air in the Central Valley or Central Coast regions. Pets are also susceptible. Health officials said people can reduce their risk while traveling in the San Joaquin Valley and much of the southwestern United States by staying indoors and keeping doors and windows closed when it's windy; keeping car windows closed and using recirculated air instead of fresh; wetting soil before digging or disrupting; and wearing a properly fitted N95 mask if the outdoors can't be avoided. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
California valley fever cases hit record highs again in 2025, state reports
The latest California numbers suggest 2025 will be another record-smashing year for valley fever, the illness linked to drought and precipitation and spread by fungal spores. There were 6,761 cases reported through the end of July, according to state health officials — a significant increase over the 10-year average of 3,833 for that same time period and a slight jump from last year's total of 6,364. The 10-year low was in 2016, when there was less than a quarter of what there is now. Last year's total of nearly 12,500 cases is the most on record for California and far more than the 7,000 to 9,000 cases per year the state averaged between 2016 and 2024. 'California had a record year for Valley fever in 2024 and, so far, case counts are high in 2025. Valley fever is a serious illness that's here to stay in California,' said Erica Pan, director of the state public health department. Officials say the current count is likely to be revised upward as there are often delays in reporting. Valley fever is most prevalent in the San Joaquin Valley and southern part of the state where the fungus, Coccidioides, thrives in dry, arid soil. Case numbers are also climbing in the northern Central Valley, though, and along the state's Central Coast. Researchers speculate the rise is tied to patterns of drought and precipitation. Periods of severe drought followed by wet winter and dry summer seem to coincide with more people getting sick. They also suspect climate change has expanded the fungi's range into areas where it was previously rare. For instance, since 2023, Monterey County's case numbers have exploded. There were 47 cases in 2023 and 348 this year as of July 31. Cases also doubled since 2023 in Contra Costa, Fresno, San Luis Obispo and Merced counties. People contract Valley fever by inhaling the Coccidioides spores, released when wind, wildfire, tractors, bulldozers, digging or even dancing disturbs the soil. Last year, at least 19 people who attended Lightning in a Bottle, a five-day music and art festival held at Buena Vista lake in Kern County, got sick — including several with pneumonia-like symptoms, rashes, headaches and exhaustion. But most people infected won't get symptoms and will fight off the infection naturally. Those who do feel sick may be hard-pressed to know what they have, since the symptoms are similar to COVID or the flu, further complicating efforts to address the disease. 'We want to remind Californians, travelers to California and their healthcare providers to watch for signs and symptoms of Valley fever to help detect it early,' Pan said. In rare cases, the fungus can spread to other parts of the body and cause severe disease or death. Valley fever is not contagious. Pan urged people to seek help from a medical provider if they've had a cough, fever, trouble breathing and tiredness for more than 7 to 10 days — especially if they've been outdoors in dusty air in the Central Valley or Central Coast regions. Pets are also susceptible. Health officials said people can reduce their risk while traveling in the San Joaquin Valley and much of the southwestern United States by staying indoors and keeping doors and windows closed when it's windy; keeping car windows closed and using recirculated air instead of fresh; wetting soil before digging or disrupting; and wearing a properly fitted N95 mask if the outdoors can't be avoided.
San Francisco Chronicle
14-05-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
The worst of avian flu outbreak may be over in California, health officials say
The worst of the H5N1 avian flu outbreak — which began in 2024 and infected thousands of birds and dairy cows and dozens of people in the U.S. — may be over in California, state public health officer Dr. Erica Pan said Tuesday. 'In California, we feel we've gotten through the worst of this,' Pan said during a briefing for medical professionals held by the California Medical Association. 'In fact, we have demobilized the active public health coordination response and will continue to monitor.' The Department of Public Health on Tuesday did not clarify what exactly the demobilization entails. The virus appears to have slowed in California and nationally, though it's unclear if some of that may be related to less surveillance or a scaled-back federal workforce doing less testing and information-sharing with state and local health departments. It may be that the state or nation is in a temporary lull that may pick up again in the fall and winter. This is because wild birds, the source of many infections, migrate north to Alaska and northern Canada to mate in the spring, and return back south in the fall. This may be why there was so much bird flu activity in the U.S. last fall, said UCSF infectious diseases specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. 'We're kind of in a quiet period now,' Chin-Hong said. 'We aren't seeing reports of humans getting infected as much as we did in the earlier part of the year or late part of last year.' As of late last year, California was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, with about 70% of cases in dairy cattle and the majority of cases in people. To date, 38 of the total 70 confirmed human cases in the U.S. have been found in California. Most have been among dairy and poultry workers who experienced mild symptoms, with the exception of one Louisiana resident who died, and two young children in the Bay Area who recovered after having mild symptoms and had unknown sources of exposure. In California, the virus among dairy cattle peaked with 766 infected herds in 12 counties as of earlier this month. While avian flu is very deadly in birds, cows usually get milder symptoms and are kept in quarantine for a period of time, tested and released once they test negative. 'The worst thing we can do is forget about it,' Chin-Hong said. 'We need to continue to be vigilant. Just because we're not seeing much now doesn't mean that for the future.'
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
CDC to slash infectious-disease funding for states; California impact uncertain
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has notified the California Department of Public Health it is suspending grants it had provided to support the state's infectious-disease response during the COVID-19 pandemic. The directive was sent to all 50 states and will cancel roughly $12 billion in funding. California officials said they couldn't immediately say how the cuts would affect state services. "We are working to evaluate the impact of these actions," Erica Pan, the state department's director and state public health officer, said in a statement. The funding was awarded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to aid the state with its respiratory virus monitoring, testing and response, immunizations and vaccines for children, and to help address health disparities, Pan said. The cuts were reported earlier by NBC News, which quoted a statement from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon saying that the "COVID-19 pandemic is over, and H.H.S. will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a nonexistent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.' It is unclear how much funding the state had been awarded and how much is now being pulled, but a 2023 news release shows that the CDC awarded the state a $37-million grant to help strengthen the state's health infrastructure, workforce and data systems. According to the release, the grant award's start date was Dec. 1, 2022, and was set to last through Nov. 30, 2027. It couldn't immediately be determined how much of the award has already been spent, but much of it was designated to support county health departments, including the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Riverside County Department of Public Health, Long Beach Health Department, Orange County Health Department and San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. In addition, two other large awards were provided by the CDC to California in the immediate wake of the COVID pandemic: a $555-million grant during 2020 and $1.7 billion as part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021. The state Department of Public Health didn't immediately respond for a request for comment on what programs could be affected by the CDC's cancellation of funding, nor how the state's infectious-disease monitoring, testing, response and immunization programs could be affected. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health received notices from the federal government that COVID-associated funding was going to be rescinded, a spokeswoman for the department said. It also received an informal notice from the state that COVID-related grants for vaccination services probably would be terminated. "In total, these actions to rescind ... COVID-associated funding will impact more than $45 million in core L.A. County Public Health funding," the spokeswoman said. "Much of this funding supports disease surveillance, public health lab services, outbreak investigations, infection control activities at healthcare facilities, and data transparency. We are working to determine the impacts of the announcement of the loss of this funding." According to 2025-26 state budget figures, Gov. Gavin Newsom allocated $5.1 billion to the state's health department; about $2.3 billion of that comes from federal funding. Although Congress initially authorized the money for state health programs as part of its COVID relief bills, it has since been allowed to be targeted to other programs, such as testing and surveillance for other respiratory viruses. California has been ground zero for the H5N1 bird flu since last March. Thirty-eight people in the state have been infected with the virus, most of them dairy workers who were exposed working with infected cows or milk. However, two of the people were children; the cause of their infection has not been determined. The virus has also infected 756 dairy herds; more than 75% of the state's total dairy herds. In addition, there have been eight measles cases since the beginning of the year, in addition to thousands of seasonal flu, COVID-19, norovirus and RSV cases. Pan said the state will continue to advance public health and work to protect people. "All Californians deserve to live in healthy and thriving communities, which is the role of public health," she wrote in her statement, saying her department is "committed to seeking the resources required to support the critical, lifesaving infrastructure needed to keep people healthy and protect them against infectious disease, vaccine-preventable diseases and health emergencies." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
