This terrifying disease is a great reason not to move to California
10 hrs ago
Valley Fever might be enough to scare you off moving to California. Officially called coccidioidomycosis, or cocci for short, it's wreaking all sorts of havoc, including forcing the California Department of Corrections to move 2,600 Central Valley prisoners at high risk for contracting it to new digs. Doctors fighting the airborne fungal infection, which is especially prevalent in California and Arizona, describe hellish symptoms from skin lesions to stroke. It can also eat away bones and attack the brain. Winemaker Todd Schaefer, 48, thinks he contracted the disease 10 years ago while riding around on his tractor. Since then, he has suffered a stroke, a hole in his lung and near-fatal heart episodes. Not to scare you any more, but there is no known cure and incidents are on the rise with over 20,000 cases reported annually.[Source
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