Valley fever: finding new places for an old disease: Coccidioides immitis found in Washington State soil associated with recent human infection

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases Vol. 60; no. 1; pp. e1 - e3
• Main Authors: Litvintseva, Anastasia P, Marsden-Haug, Nicola, Hurst, Steven, Hill, Heather, Gade, Lalitha, Driebe, Elizabeth M, Ralston, Cindy, Roe, Chandler, Barker, Bridget M, Goldoft, Marcia, Keim, Paul, Wohrle, Ron, Thompson, 3rd, George R, Engelthaler, David M, Brandt, Mary E, Chiller, Tom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Cluster Analysis; Coccidioides - classification; Coccidioides - genetics; Coccidioides - isolation & purification; Coccidioidomycosis - epidemiology; Coccidioidomycosis - microbiology; DNA, Fungal - chemistry; DNA, Fungal - genetics; Electronic; Endemic Diseases; Fungal infections; Fungi; Genetics; Genome, Fungal; Genomes; Humans; Microbiological Techniques; Molecular Sequence Data; Polymerase chain reaction; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology; Soil Microbiology; Soils; Washington; Washington; soil detection; Coccidioides; WGS typing; valley fever
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciu681

We used real-time polymerase chain reaction and culture to demonstrate persistent colonization of soils by Coccidioides immitis, an agent of valley fever, in Washington State linked to recent human infections and located outside the endemic range. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed genetic identity between isolates from soil and one of the case-patients.