Photograph of a wide dirt street identified as Main Street (now Capitol Way), Olympia, W.T., Thurston County. Along the visible right side of the street are a series of two-story wooden building, apparently mostly residences. A wooden sidewalk extends along the front of them. A man is sitting in a buggy in front of one of the houses. In the middle distance is a building with the word hardware on a sign. In the far distance are two flagpoles.
Out of the millions of fungal species in the world, only a few hundred can make people sick. Coccidioides is one of them — and it lives in desert dust. Microscopic spores are kicked up when the ground is disturbed; if inhaled, they can cause an infection known as Valley fever. Most people recover without ever knowing they had it, but others will experience far more intense symptoms, ranging from pneumonia to meningitis. Coccidioides is also really good at eating … meat.
