California researchers believe dogs can help predict the spread of valley fever, which has probably been surged in recent years due to climate change.
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California researchers believe dogs may be able to predict the spread of valley fever, which has skyrocketed nationwide due to climate change.
With more than a third of us adjacent to drought, the dangerous aerial gas-like disease in humans is rapidly increasing.
But valley fever is also common in dogs that dig deep into the dirt and sniff it near the ground, according to University of California researchers Jane Sykes and Simon Camponule.. They published recent research in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
What is volley fever?
Valley fever is a pulmonary infection caused by breathing spores from coccidioid, a fungus that lives in soil and dust in certain parts of the United States and around the world, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Valley fever does not spread between people, humans and animals. However, Sykes and Camponuri believe that dog data can be used as a warning sign where humans should look for diseases.
Symptoms of valley fever range from fever, cough and chest pain to severe complications, including pneumonia and meningitis, says a California public health researcher. According to the CDC, about 5-10% of people who develop valley fever have serious or long-term problems in their lungs.
Dogs are “sentinels for human infectious diseases.”
Sykes and Camponuri evaluated 835,000 blood antibody tests taken from dogs across the country between 2012 and 2022. Their study concluded that almost 40% of dogs were positive for the disease. According to this study, dogs are closely associated with humans, so dogs act as “a rough agent” for human environmental exposure.
“Dogs are a good sentinel for human infectious diseases,” the professor at the University of California told USA Today. “They are not only models that help us understand not only disease epidemiology, but human diseases, but they also help us understand them.”
According to 2024 statistics by the American Veterinary Association, around 60 million American households own at least one dog, accounting for almost half of all pet-owned households in the country.
The valley fever is spreading
Sykes and Camponuri tracked positive results by location. Their study showed that the presence of valley fever in dogs was spiked almost six times, from just 2.4% of US counties in 2012 to 12.4% in 2022.
This study found that cases of dog valley fever spread over time, primarily in Arizona and California. Valley fever does not spread between people, humans and animals. However, Sykes and Camponuri believe that dog data can be used as a warning sign where humans should look for diseases.
“I want more communication and awareness about valley fever between public health and animal care practitioners, clinicians and environmental health scientists,” Camponuri, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, told USA Today.
Another study published in March, which also looked at Camponuri, found that cases of human valley fever have tripled over the past 20 years.
“Our findings highlight the importance of adapting public health mitigation strategies to climate change,” Camponuri said. “Awareness of changes in timing of transmission seasons allows us to take proactive steps. Proactive procedures can alert the public about increased risk of disease when it is most likely to occur.”
Human cases are more likely than reported
The CDC reports that it receives 10,000 to 20,000 reports of human cases of valley fever each year. However, Sykes believes that actual cases could be at least 33 times higher as many states do not require reporting.
The CDC considers valley hot air speeds in parts of six states, including Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. Sykes told USA Today their research found valley fever in dogs in these states, but also several more western states, including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.
“We’re also finding cases in states where valley fever is not considered endemic by the CDC,” Sykes said. “Part of that can be caused by people traveling across state borders with their dogs, and we also know that these states have an environmental and soil condition that is suitable for survival of the disease.
“We should be looking closely at these states as there may be a lack of recognition of fungal diseases in humans.
The study also shows that spikes in dog cases correlate with “hot spots” of human valley fever, Sykes said it has confirmed the accuracy.
“We still need to do more research to predict the incidence and frequency of human diseases without current information,” Sykes said.
