5 Key Takeaways

• 1

  A population-based study linked natural landscapes and fallowed farmland to coccidioidomycosis incidence in California.

• 2

  The study analyzed 65,657 confirmed Valley fever cases reported from April 2008 to March 2021.

• 3

  Incidence peaked in Kern County, with reported cases rising from 1,708 in 2008 to 9,778 in 2017.

• 4

  Newly fallowed land and land fallowed in the previous 4 years were associated with higher coccidioidomycosis incidence.

• 5

  The study did not determine the presence of Coccidioides in agricultural soils or dust, nor did it assess diagnostic methods.