As temperatures warm, valley fever fungus vastly expands its range
… [C]occidioides, a fungus that causes a disease called coccidioidomycosis, better known as valley fever. If inhaled, microscopic spores from the fungus can lodge in the lungs. About a third of those infected with cocci never have any symptoms, and most of those infected clear the disease and develop immunity. But for between 1 and 5% of those who inhale it, cocci spreads through the bloodstream and wreaks havoc in the body that can sometimes be lethal. And the changing climate has allowed valley fever to spread far beyond its traditional territory of Arizona and parts of Southern California.