Death Dust
Every year, there are some hundred and fifty cases of coccidioidomycosis, otherwise known as valley fever, or cocci, a disease caused by inhaling the microscopic spores of Coccidioides immitis, a soil-dwelling fungus found in Bakersfield, California. Cocci is endemic to the desert Southwest and to the semi-arid parts of Central and South America. Digging stirs it up, and dry, hot windy conditions, a regional feature intensified by climate change, disperse it.
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