Editor's note: The number of valley fever cases in humans has
soared so high, health experts are calling it "The Second
Epidemic." The Reporting On Health Collaborative, an initiative
of the Health Journalism Fellowships at the University of
Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and
Journalism involving The Record, the Bakersfield Californian,
the Merced Sun-Star, Radio Bilingưe in Fresno, Vida en el Valle,
the Voice of OC in Santa Ana and ReportingonHealth.org, has been
looking at the issue. This is part of an occasional series. The
first valley fever victim that Dr. Demosthenes Pappagianis
remembers was Mbongo - a gorilla at the San Diego Zoo The
veteran researcher recalled the animal's 1942 death from the
disease, also known as coccidiomycosis. Zoo animals, pets and
animals in the wild contract coccidiomycosis the same as people,
by inhaling spores from a fungus that thrives in soil,
particularly in the Central Valley, Arizona and throughout the
Southwest. Valley fever affects about 150,