Sykes Jane E, Camponuri Simon K, Weaver Amanda K, Thompson George R, Remais Justin V
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
Center for Valley Fever, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
J Infect Dis. 2025 Jun 2;231(5):e986-e995. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaf184.
Coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) occurs when animals and humans inhale spores of Coccidioides spp, soil-dwelling fungi of the southwestern United States (US). The spatial epidemiology of coccidioidomycosis is poorly understood due to irregular detection of Coccidioides in soil, disease underdiagnosis, and lack of nationwide mandatory reporting. Data on seroreactivity to Coccidioides among dogs-which are highly susceptible to coccidioidomycosis, widespread across the US, and have limited travel-may strengthen our understanding human disease risk.
We analyzed serologic test results for 834 899 dogs between 2012 and 2022 from all known diagnostic laboratories conducting serologic testing for anti-Coccidioides antibodies in dogs in the US. We used testing date and county-level location data to estimate spatial and temporal trends in incidence and test positivity for dogs and compared them to human surveillance data.
The overall seropositivity rate among tested dogs was 37.6% (313 829/834 899). Average test positivity rates in states with ≥0.5 tests per annum per 10 000 households were 35.4% (Texas) to 74.1% (Montana). For these states, average annual incidence per 10 000 households was as follows: Arizona (86.8), New Mexico (0.89), Nevada (0.78), California (0.75), Montana (0.63), Colorado (0.41), Oregon (0.41), Texas (0.38), Idaho (0.37), Wyoming (0.34), Utah (0.32), and Washington (0.26). Human incidence in California and Arizona between 2012 and 2022 was significantly correlated with dog incidence (ρ = 0.75 and ρ = 0.65, respectively). The distribution of seropositive dogs expanded from 76 of 3144 counties (2.4%) in 2012 to 390 in 2022 (12.4%).
Further investment in human diagnostic infrastructure and provider knowledge may ameliorate significant underrecognition of this emerging fungal disease.
当动物和人类吸入球孢子菌属（美国西南部土壤中的真菌）的孢子时，就会发生球孢子菌病（山谷热）。由于土壤中球孢子菌的检测不规则、疾病诊断不足以及缺乏全国性的强制报告，球孢子菌病的空间流行病学尚不清楚。狗对球孢子菌病高度易感，在美国广泛分布且活动范围有限，关于狗对球孢子菌血清反应性的数据可能会增强我们对人类疾病风险的理解。
我们分析了2012年至2022年间来自美国所有已知的对狗进行抗球孢子菌抗体血清学检测的诊断实验室的834899只狗的血清学检测结果。我们使用检测日期和县级位置数据来估计狗的发病率和检测阳性率的时空趋势，并将它们与人类监测数据进行比较。
受试狗的总体血清阳性率为37.6%（313829/834899）。每年每10000户家庭检测次数≥0.5次的州的平均检测阳性率为35.4%（得克萨斯州）至74.1%（蒙大拿州）。对于这些州，每10000户家庭的年均发病率如下：亚利桑那州（86.8）、新墨西哥州（0.89）、内华达州（0.78）、加利福尼亚州（0.75）、蒙大拿州（0.63）、科罗拉多州（0.41）、俄勒冈州（0.41）、得克萨斯州（0.38）、爱达荷州（0.37）、怀俄明州（0.34）、犹他州（0.32）和华盛顿州（0.26）。2012年至2022年期间，加利福尼亚州和亚利桑那州的人类发病率与狗的发病率显著相关（分别为ρ = 0.75和ρ = 0.65）。血清阳性狗的分布从2012年3144个县中的76个（2.4%）扩大到2022年的390个（12.4%）。
对人类诊断基础设施和医疗人员知识的进一步投入可能会改善对这种新兴真菌疾病的严重认识不足。
