LOS ANGELES, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles has urged Chinese citizens living in the southwest regions of the United States to know more about Valley Fever, a fungal infection, so that they can try to prevent or get early treatment for the disease.
The consulate said in a press release sent to Xinhua on Thursday that it had received three reports of Chinese citizens catching Valley Fever in Phoenix, capital city of Arizona state and two of the patients, all young men, had died from the disease, which is also called coccidioidomycosis.
The consulate advised Chinese citizens living in Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico to collect more information about Valley Fever, which was dubbed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a "silent epidemic, " in order to get testing and diagnosis of Valley Fever early.
The CDC's official website said Valley Fever is an infection caused by a fungus that lives in the soil. The disease can be misdiagnosed because its symptoms are similar to those of other illnesses.
The disease has been on the rise in recent years, and about 10,000 cases are reported in the United States each year, mostly from Arizona and California, CDC said, but it can be found throughout southwest of the United States, Mexico, Central and South America.
"Of all the people infected with Valley Fever, one or more out of 200 will develop the disseminated form, which is devastating, and can be fatal," according to a study conducted by the University of Arizona.