Introduction
Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) is caused by inhaling spores from the Coccidioides fungus, which lives in desert soil. Dogs, humans, and other animals can breathe in these spores, especially in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico and Central and South America.
Thanks to funding from the AKC Canine Health Foundation, researchers have identified a specific immune response to Valley Fever in dogs. This discovery could help veterinarians better predict how the disease will progress, improve treatment plans, and support the development of a vaccine to protect dogs in the future.
Key Points
- Valley Fever is caused by inhaling fungal spores found in desert soil
- Dogs can develop lung infections or more widespread disease
- Researchers identified immune signals specific to Valley Fever infection
- No vaccine exists yet, but one is being developed
- Early treatment with antifungal medication is important and often long-term
The Challenge Background
Valley Fever is a fungal disease that affects dogs living in or visiting desert regions. The fungus Coccidioides lives in dry soil, and when disturbed—by wind, digging, or walking—it releases spores into the air. Dogs can inhale these spores and become infected.
Once inside the body, the spores may be cleared by the immune system, or they may cause illness. Lung disease is the most common form, but the infection can also spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms in dogs include coughing, fever, low energy, and in more severe cases, joint swelling, vision loss, or seizures. With no vaccine currently available, the only way to prevent Valley Fever is to avoid areas where the fungus grows.
The Breakthrough
Researchers at the University of Arizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence, funded by the AKC Canine Health Foundation, studied how dogs’ immune systems respond to Coccidioides infection (Grant 02408: Predicting Outcome Coccidioidomycosis in Naturally Infected Dogs). They measured cytokines—proteins in the blood that help the body fight infections—at the time of diagnosis and after exposing blood samples to Valley Fever antigens.
They found that only two cytokines were elevated in infected dogs at baseline. However, after the blood was exposed to the Valley Fever fungus in the lab, many more cytokines increased, showing a strong immune response specific to the infection. Interestingly, dogs with lung-only disease and those with more widespread (disseminated) disease had similar immune profiles, suggesting that the body reacts in a consistent way regardless of how far the disease has spread.
Figure 1 – Estimated areas with coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) in the United States. (From www.cdc.gov.)
Impact & Next Steps
This research helps veterinarians understand how dogs respond to Valley Fever and could lead to better ways to predict how severe the disease might become. It also provides a foundation for testing how well a future vaccine might work.
Next, researchers plan to study how the immune response changes over time and identify which immune signals are most useful for guiding treatment and prevention. These findings may also apply to other fungal diseases in dogs, making this breakthrough even more valuable for canine health.
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