Skip to content

How to Avoid Arizona’s Valley Fever

May 16, 2014

If you live in Arizona, you’ve no doubt heard of valley fever, the respiratory illness caused by spores in the dry, dusty desert air. Fortunately, there are ways to protect yourself, especially if you enjoy being outdoors.

For most people, valley fever is an inconvenience, causing flu-like symptoms such as fatigue, cough or fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But for some, valley fever can be a serious, even life-threatening illness.

Two-thirds of the 150,000 cases reported annually in the United States occur in Arizona, 80 percent of which happen in the Sonoran Desert in and around Phoenix and Tucson, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Read more on the Allstate Blog.

Photo courtesy of marada, via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0.