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CDC technology advances promise better valley fever detection

December 2, 2016

BY HAROLD PIERCE The Center for Health Journalism Collaborative

New technology could reveal the microscopic, sometimes deadly spores that cause valley fever that currently float in the air undetected.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is developing a sensor that can detect levels of the cocci fungus in the air and soil, said Christopher Braden, deputy director of the CDC’s National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases branch. The agency has been working on the technology for three years, and Braden is hopeful the sensors could be moved into wider use over the next few years.

Read the full Center for Health Journalism story (including a link to a Spanish translation).