The surge of valley fever across Ventura County put the woman who all but lives outside indoors and out of action.
Tammy Takara is a surfer, a runner and a mom who takes her four kids to softball, baseball and soccer practice. She practices yoga and taekwondo in her east Ventura backyard.
For about six weeks, she couldn’t do almost any of it because of an illness that started with a fever, body chills and swollen nodules on her ankles that made it painful to walk.
“I thought I had a flu,” she said. “I thought I had pneumonia.”
She was diagnosed in February with coccidioidomycosis, the infection nicknamed for one of its hotbeds, California’s San Joaquin Valley. It is rising dramatically across California.
Preliminary state data shows 172 cases in Ventura County in 2025 through April. That’s more than double the 81 cases over the same time period in 2024 and more than triple the 50 cases in 2023.
If the rise continues, it could be the county’s highest tally in at least 25 years, outdoing the 374 cases in 2019, the year after the Woolsey Fire. The 2024 official numbers are still being compiled.
The disease comes from fungus that lives in the soil. It spreads when spores are projected into the air and inhaled. The spores can be sent skyward by dramatic changes in weather, fires, construction work and any other disruption to the soil.
“When the dirt is rumbled up, it allows for this fungus to be released,” said Dr. Melissa Barger, director of infectious disease at Ventura County Medical Center. She estimated she’s treating at least 15 cases of the infection.
In most cases, infected people show no signs of illness. Others may have fever, fatigue, cough and shortness of breath. In a handful of cases, people develop pneumonia or other complications. The illness is not passed from one person to another.
In very rare instances, the illness can spread beyond the lungs to the brain or the spine, triggering potentially fatal complications, including meningitis. Ventura County public health officials said the disease has been linked to at least one death this year, declining to give an exact number to protect the privacy of family members.
Unsolved mystery of valley fever
Trained as a pharmacist, Takara plays the detective game, trying to figure exactly how she was exposed. She wonders about the nearly 20,000-acre Mountain Fire that raged in Camarillo and Somis in November. She thinks too about a January trip to the Nevada desert.
And then there’s her daily running in her hillside neighborhood and the hours spent at a windy soccer field.
“I could have picked it up there,” she said.
Such sleuthing is common but inexact, said Dr. Ramesh Nathan, a Thousand Oaks infectious disease specialist treating at least 10 cases of valley fever.
“That happens every single time I see a patient,” he said of the guesswork. “I tell them it may be that’s the case, but we’ll never know.”
Getting diagnosed can be complicated. Often, the initial symptoms are misconstrued as influenza. Takara was diagnosed with pneumonia and given antibiotics.
The body aches and joint pain grew worse. The swelling on her ankles made it hard to walk.
She went to the emergency room and was tested for valley fever.
“It was positive,” she said, noting the illness had triggered her pneumonia. It was shocking news but at least she knew what she had.
“It was almost a little bit of relief,” she said.
Ventura County firefighters could be at risk
The surge of cases has increased the number of people who need hospital care but the wide majority of illnesses involve less severe though sometimes debilitating symptoms. People are treated with antifungal medication and recover in weeks or months.
“It affects people differently,” Nathan said, noting that people can be exposed to the same spores in a dust storm. “Only one person may get it but 15 people are exposed.”
People at higher risk include gardeners, farmworkers, construction workers, firefighters and others who spend much of their time outdoors in the elements. Doctors note that facemasks can offer protection for people worried about exposure.
Dr. Neil Canby, emergency room physician and medical director for the Ventura County Fire Department, said he’s not aware of any new cases involving firefighters but thinks they’re likely to come, primarily because of the November Mountain Fire.
“There was a big spike after the Thomas Fire,” he said of the 2017 blaze that scorched 282,000 acres, noting that fires in rural areas can send large amounts of disease-causing spores into the air. “There’s definitely more exposure.’
Canby urges awareness, noting that doctors don’t always think of valley fever when diagnosing patients. Others say that consciousness is already rising, and may be part of the reason why diagnoses have surged.
“We’re looking for it more,” said Barger, the VCMC infectious disease specialist.
Valley fever’s lasting impact
Nicole Sadowsky, a Camarillo fourth grade teacher, was infected with valley fever in 2018 in the wake of the Thomas Fire. The diagnosis came after doctors considered the possibilities of pneumonia, asthma or a blood clot.
Seven years later, it’s mostly a memory. But the infection caused a little scarring in her lungs, making her susceptible to certain illnesses.
“Any time I get a respiratory infection, I pretty much need to get an inhaler,” she said.
The experience changed her approach to health. When she experienced a strange sensation in her chest, she went to a doctor because she thought it might be related to the valley fever. It turned out to be breast cancer that wasn’t detected in a mammogram.
It was Stage 3 and growing. Sadowsky went through chemotherapy, radiation and a double mastectomy. She recovered.
“Valley fever,” she said, “ended up saving my life.”
Doctors contend climate change may be the biggest reason for the ongoing rise. They said dramatic changes in weather pushes more spores into the air.
Dr. Uldine Castel, Ventura County health officer, cited years of drought followed by record rain seasons.
“That combination is really kind of the special sauce that gets coccidioidomycosis going,” she said.
Climate change isn’t stopping and neither is valley fever. The disease will likely continue to rise or at best plateau, Barger said.
“I really don’t think it’s going to go down,” Barger said.
Unwelcome visitor
Takara is surfing, running and doing yoga again. Diagnosed in February, she still takes antifungal medication that causes her skin to peel. Sometimes, her joints ache.
She’s relieved she didn’t get more severe complications. A spinal tap showed no signs that the infection had spread though she worries about the possibility of future impacts to her lungs..
For now, she looks at valley fever as an unwelcome visitor who came into her life and then left.
“I feel almost back to normal,” she said.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Valley fever surges in Ventura County; doctors blame weather changes
Reporting by Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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