Bill addresses effort to combat Valley Fever

A group of lawmakers introduced this week legislation designed to address the short-term, medium-term, and long-term challenges to detecting, treating, and eventually eliminating Valley Fever.

Valley Fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis, is an infection caused by the fungus Coccidioides and is known to live in the soil in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America.

The fungus was also recently found in south-central Washington, according to officials, who noted people could get Valley Fever by breathing in the microscopic fungal spores from the air.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-AZ), Congressional Valley Fever Task Force co-chair, joined Sens. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), as well as Reps. David Schweikert (R-AZ), Karen Bass (D-CA), and Greg Stanton (D-AZ) in introducing the Finding Orphan-disease Remedies with Antifungal Research and Development (FORWARD) Act.

“The FORWARD Act takes a comprehensive approach to combating Valley Fever to increase public awareness of this disease while enhancing and promoting the development of novel treatments and a vaccine,” McCarthy said. “I hope this bill will bring a continued and much-needed focus to combat Valley Fever.”

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention stated that when people who get sick with Valley Fever, they generally get better on their own within weeks to months, but some people will need antifungal medication. Certain groups are at higher risk of becoming severely ill, including individuals who have HIV/AIDS, have had an organ transplant, are taking corticosteroids or TNF-inhibitors, as well as pregnant women, patients with diabetes and people of African-American or Filipino descent.

“Valley Fever poses a critical health risk in Arizona, with nearly two-thirds of all cases nationwide occurring in our state,” McSally said. “The FORWARD Act aids in research, treatment, and most importantly, prevention of Valley Fever to deliver assistance to our communities in need. We need to take this seriously and ensure that resources are invested in the fight against this disease.”