''Coccidioides'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of dimorphic

ascomycetes Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The de ...

in the family

Onygenaceae The Onygenaceae are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the ...

. Member species are the cause of

coccidioidomycosis Coccidioidomycosis (, ) is a mammalian mycosis, fungal disease caused by ''Coccidioides immitis'' or ''Coccidioides posadasii''. It is commonly known as cocci, Valley fever, California fever, desert rheumatism, or San Joaquin Valley fever. Cocci ...

, also known as San Joaquin Valley fever, an infectious fungal disease largely confined to the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

. The

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

acquires the disease by respiratory inhalation of

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s disseminated in their natural habitat. The causative agents of coccidioidomycosis are ''

Coccidioides immitis ''Coccidioides immitis'' is a pathogenic fungus that resides in the soil in certain parts of the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and a few other areas in the Western Hemisphere. Epidemiology ''C. immitis'', along with its relativ ...

'' and '' Coccidioides posadasii''. Both ''C. immitis'' and ''C. posadasii'' are indistinguishable during laboratory testing and commonly referred in literature as ''Coccidioides''.

Clinical presentation

Coccidioidomycosis is amazingly diverse in terms of its scope of clinical presentation, as well as clinical severity. About 60% of ''Coccidioides'' infections as determined by serologic conversion are asymptomatic. The most common clinical syndrome in the other 40% of infected patients is an acute respiratory illness characterized by fever, cough, and

pleuritic Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

pain. Skin manifestations, such as

erythema nodosum Erythema nodosum (EN) is an inflammatory condition characterized by inflammation of subcutaneous fat tissue, resulting in painful red/blue lumps or nodules that are usually seen symmetrically on both shins, on the thighs, arms, and elsewhere. I ...

, are also common with ''Coccidioides'' infection. ''Coccidioides'' infection can cause a severe and difficult-to-treat meningitis in AIDS and other immunocompromised patients, and occasionally in immunocompetent hosts. Infection can sometimes cause acute respiratory distress syndrome and fatal multilobar pneumonia. The risk of symptomatic infection increases with age.

Epidemiology

The primary coccidioidomycosis-

areas are located in Southern California and southern Arizona, and northern Mexico, in Sonora, Nuevo León, Coahuila, and Baja California, where it resides in soil. Both ''C. immitis'' and ''C. posadasii'' were viewed as desert saprophytes, but recent genomic research revealed ''Coccidioides'' species to have evolved interacting with their animal hosts.

Etymology

The soil fungus ''Coccidioides'' was discovered in 1892 by Alejandro Posadas, a medical student, in an Argentinian soldier with widespread disease. Biopsy specimens revealed organisms that resembled the protozoan

Coccidia Coccidia (Coccidiasina) are a subclass of microscopic, spore-forming, single-celled obligate intracellular parasites belonging to the apicomplexan class Conoidasida. As obligate intracellular parasites, they must live and reproduce within a ...

(from the Greek kokkis, "little berry"). In 1896, Gilchrist and Rixford named the organism ''Coccidioides'' ("resembling Coccidia") ''immitis'' (Latin for “harsh,” describing the clinical course). Ophüls and Moffitt proved that ''C. immitis'' was a fungus rather than a protozoan in 1900. In 2002, ''C. immitis'' was divided into a second species, '' C. posadasii'', after Alejandro Posadas.

References

''This article cites public domain text from the CDC, as shown.''

External links

''Coccidioides'' sp.National Center for Biotechnology Information: Coccidioides
{{Authority control Eurotiomycetes genera Onygenales Taxa described in 1896