title: Valley fever: finding new places for an old disease: Coccidioides immitis found in Washington State soil associated with recent human infection.
abstract: We used real-time polymerase chain reaction and culture to demonstrate persistent colonization of soils by Coccidioides immitis, an agent of valley fever, in Washington State linked to recent human infections and located outside the endemic range. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed genetic identity between isolates from soil and one of the case-patients.
authors.affiliation: Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Anastasia P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Litvintseva
authors.affiliation: Washington State Department of Health, Shoreline and Tumwater.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marsden-Haug
authors.affiliation: Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hurst
authors.affiliation: Benton-Franklin Health District, Kennewick, Washington.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Lalitha
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gade
authors.affiliation: Translational Genomics Research Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Driebe
authors.affiliation: Benton-Franklin Health District, Kennewick, Washington.
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ralston
authors.affiliation: Translational Genomics Research Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona.
authors.forename: Chandler
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roe
authors.affiliation: Translational Genomics Research Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona.
authors.forename: Bridget M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.affiliation: Washington State Department of Health, Shoreline and Tumwater.
authors.forename: Marcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldoft
authors.affiliation: Translational Genomics Research Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Keim
authors.affiliation: Washington State Department of Health, Shoreline and Tumwater.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wohrle
authors.affiliation: Coccidioidomycosis Serology Laboratory, University of California, Davis.
authors.forename: George R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Translational Genomics Research Institute, Flagstaff, Arizona.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Engelthaler
authors.affiliation: Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.affiliation: Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chiller
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003045:Coccidioides / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003047:Coccidioidomycosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D008828:Microbiological Techniques; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014861:Washington
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal
keywords: Coccidioides; WGS typing; soil detection; valley fever