FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- More people are getting sick with Valley Fever.
Central California health leaders are urging people to take precautions and protect themselves from the disease.
"If you're going to be working in the environment where there's lots of dust around you, please wear that mask," says Leticia Berber with the Fresno County Health Department. "N-95 is best."
Valley Fever comes from a fungus that grows in the soil or dirt.
It's caused when people breathe in that infected soil.
Numbers from the California Department of Public Health show that in Fresno County, there are more than 570 cases of Valley Fever as of July 31.
"This is an ongoing situation where we see these cases go up," Berber said. "Also, truck drivers and construction workers, so this illness is an ongoing illness."
In 2024, California saw a record high number of Valley Fever cases, with nearly 12,500 cases reported.
Action News spoke with Dr. Geetha Sivasubramanian, the Chief of Infectious Diseases at UCSF Fresno, who says it's possible we could see more cases this year.
"We'll know more when we have all the numbers, but the trend looks like it could reach or beat last year's numbers," she said.
Other Central California counties are also seeing cases of Valley Fever.
Tulare County reported 371 cases. Kings County is at 223 cases. Merced County reported 114 cases so far. Madera has 56 cases. Mariposa 4 reported cases.
Berber explains that Valley fever cases spike around summer and fall.
"When farmers are plowing their lands either to get it ready for crops, or plowing their land when they have finished getting with those crops," Berber said.
Symptoms of Valley Fever include cough, fever, fatigue and trouble breathing, just to name a few.
"About 60% of the cases, it's only mild," Dr. Sivasubramanian said. "You might not even know you have Valley Fever, or it might be a very mild infection. The other 40% it could be much more severe. One thing we are seeing in the last couple of years, we are seeing more severe cases getting admitted to the hospital with Valley Fever."
While there is treatment for Valley Fever, doctors say the most important thing is to test for the disease.