Reps. McCarthy, Schweikert applaud NIAID for Valley Fever research initiative

U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and David Schweikert (R-CA) commended the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) for establishing a research initiative to treat and prevent Valley Fever.

The NIAID recently issued a notice of funding opportunity to establish a Coccidioidomycosis Collaborative Research Centers (CCRC) program to create research teams to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Valley Fever.

Valley fever is an infection caused by the fungus Coccidioides, which lives in the soil in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico and Central and South America. People can get Valley fever by breathing in the microscopic fungal spores from the air. Typically, people who get sick with Valley fever will get better on their own within weeks to months, but some will need antifungal medication. However, certain groups of people are at higher risk of becoming severely ill.

The NIAID Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) Council approved a proposed concept to establish collaborative Valley Fever research centers in June of this year. McCarthy was instrumental in bringing awareness to Valley Fever.

“I applaud NIAID for the decision to move forward with establishing Valley Fever research teams and issuing a funding opportunity announcement with the intention to commit $6 million in Fiscal Year 2022,” McCarthy and Schweikert wrote in a letter to National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins and NIAID Director Anthony Fauci. “Our community and California’s Central Valley are uniquely impacted by Valley Fever with the California Department of Public Health ranking Kern County first in the number of Valley Fever cases in 2019. Particularly with the emergence of COVID-19, which presents similar symptoms to Valley Fever, it is now more important than ever to double down our efforts to better understand and treat this fungal disease.”