Managing Valley fever starts with awareness. Since there’s no surefire way to avoid getting Valley fever in Arizona, knowledge is everyone’s best defense — but awareness needs a community effort. 
The Value of Managing Valley Fever for Arizona Stakeholders
John N Galgiani MD, Director, Valley Fever Center for Excellence,
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson
Michael Bates, now in his fifties, thought he knew all about Valley fever. He had grown up in Tucson and thought it was a fungal infection you got in the first year or two of living here, caused a flu-like illness, and resolved in a couple of days. No big deal.
In high school Bates was a football running back and a track star. In 1988 he was the Arizona Republic’s Male Athlete of the Year. At the University of Arizona, he continued football, ran sprints and now is in its Athletic Hall of Fame. In the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, Bates won bronze in the 200-meter event. Then on to the NFL for a decade.
Last year, after months of fever, backpain and weight loss, medical imaging showed holes in many of his bones. He was told he might have cancer. To his surprise, it was all due to Valley fever. Slowly, and with ongoing medical care, he is improving. Bates is still amazed that this could happen to an Arizona native such as himself.
John N Galgiani MD, Director, Valley Fever Center for Excellence
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson
Other athletes have had run-ins with Valley fever. Headlines announced that baseball legend Johnny Bench had surgery to remove a Valley fever mass from his lung. Diamondbacks’ Connor Jackson and New York Yankees’ Ike Davis lost playing time because of Valley fever. Arizona football alumnus Sterling Lewis died of Valley fever, basketball greats Johnny Moore and Loren Woods and golfers Gregory Kraft, Shane Prante and Charlie Beljan all have stories to tell. Ray Syron, a down-hill mountain bike racer, developed Valley fever meningitis. Now some of these competitors are pushing for increased awareness about Valley fever and demanding that more be done to manage it.
Valley fever, medically known as coccidioidomycosis, is found from California to Texas. Half of people living for 12 years in Central Arizona have had it. Because of its size, Maricopa County accounts for half of all U.S. infections. ASU’s Seidman Institute estimated the cost of Valley fever to Arizona in 2019 was $789 million. And the number of infections was up 50% in 2024. Valley fever is greatly underdiagnosed or diagnosed late. The CDC estimates that the true number of illnesses is at least 10 times greater than reported and each day of delay costs $175.
Valley fever receives little attention because it is regional, and where Valley fever is common, there may be reluctance to call attention to its presence. In 2024 Money Inc magazine called Valley fever the most important reason NOT to move to Arizona. That opinion is misinformed. Professional sports, real estate, tourism, and the state’s industrial expansion would all benefit economically from better management of Valley fever.
Managing Valley fever starts with awareness. Since there’s no surefire way to avoid getting Valley fever in Arizona, knowledge is everyone’s best defense — but awareness needs a community effort. Reminders should be everywhere, not only in medical clinics but also in sports arenas.
Banner Health’s urgent care clinics have been making early diagnosis of Valley fever a priority. Since 2020, their rate of testing pneumonia patients for Valley fever increased from 2% to over 40%. The rest of the medical community should do the same. With a precise diagnosis, Valley fever patients can get the care they need rather than antibiotics that don’t help.
Finally, new discoveries are crucial. We need highly sensitive tests that can be done in the clinic to avoid the days to weeks delay of test results. We need curative drugs, not just those that suppress the infection like what’s available now. Finally, a vaccine discovered at the University of Arizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence is now in development by Anivive Lifesciences. It may become a product within a year for veterinarians to protect dogs from Valley fever. Anivive also has initial NIH funding to make a vaccine for humans.
The CDC declared September 15-19, 2025 to be Fungal Disease Awareness Week. Valley fever is the Southwest’s fungal disease. Let’s embrace it and do something about it.