A Valley fever outbreak has been reported following an outdoor music festival that took place near Bakersfield, California, at the end of May.
In a press release by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), California officials warned that multiple people who attended the outdoor music festival, Lightning in a Bottle, have contracted Valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis.
The press release stated, “To date, CDPH has identified five patients with Valley fever who attended the festival; three were hospitalized. Additional cases linked to attendance at the outdoor festival are possible.”
The CDPH noted that over 20,000 people attended the festival from May 22 to May 27 at Buena Vista Lake, California.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines Valley fever as “a lung infection caused by breathing in spores from the fungus, coccidioides.” According to the CDC, coccidioides can be found in the soil in parts of the southwestern United States and part of Washington state.
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In the recent press release, the CDPH said, “CDPH recommends that people who visited Kern County and are experiencing respiratory infection symptoms that have not improved or are lasting longer than a week should visit a healthcare provider and ask about possible Valley fever.”
The CDPH noted that symptoms of Valley fever include cough, difficulty breathing, fever, fatigue, and chest pain.
The CDPH added, “While the event occurred two months ago and mild cases of Valley fever might have already resolved, other patients with more long-term or severe disease may still be symptomatic or undiagnosed.”
Tom Langdon Hill, the CCHS Foundation’s director of training in Tucson, Arizona, told Fox News it is “desperately difficult” to predict where people could be exposed to Valley fever. He added, “However, the outbreak tied to the outdoor music festival, Lightning in a Bottle, happened in an area already known as a Valley fever hotspot, with 34 deaths tallied in 2022 alone.”
According to the CDC, while a majority of people exposed to coccidioides do not experience symptoms, approximately 40% of people will develop respiratory symptoms and roughly 5% to 10% of people will develop complications, including serious lung problems. The CDC’s website also notes that Valley fever is not spread from contact with other people or animals.
The CDPH’s website shows that the number of reported Valley fever cases tripled from 2014-2018, with anywhere from 7,000 to 9,000 cases reported each year.
