The California dust holds a deadly secret, one that has been plaguing the American Southwest for over a century. Killer microscopic fungal spores called Coccidioidomycosis, simply known as Cocci, or Valley Fever, are too small to be detected even by the most advanced bioterrorism equipment in the country. It causes a lottery of symptoms to anyone unlucky enough to breathe the contaminated dust endemic to the American Southwest: California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico; Northern Mexico; Central America; and parts of South America. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that about 150,000 people are infected yearly in the United States alone. About 60 percent of its victims show no symptoms whatsoever. Those that do show symptoms experience fever, cough, headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain often misdiagnosed as the common flu, bacterial pneumonia, and even cancer. dailydot/opinion/valley-fever-the-new-ebola/?fbdd
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:22:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015