The chances are very good that anyone living in the Central Valley knows someone who has been impacted by Valley Fever. The Centers for Disease Control estimates 20,000 new cases of Valley Fever are diagnosed each year, and as of now, there is no vaccine to help prevent it. However, there is hope that in the future, that could change. 23ABC's Ruby Rivera has more.
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00:00 Living in California, chances are you may know someone who's been impacted by
00:03 Valley fever. The CDC estimates 20,000 new cases of the infection each year.
00:08 Right now, there's no vaccine to help prevent it, but there is hope that
00:12 could change. 23 abc's ruby Rivera spoke to a pet pharmaceutical company
00:16 that's working on a vaccine and tells us how this could eventually help
00:20 people. It only takes a short amount of time to be exposed to valley fever.
00:24 That's what happened to Michael, this 11 year old Chihuahua. Since then,
00:27 it's been an eight year battle for both him and his family. But there could
00:31 be hope for animals and people everywhere dealing with this illness.
00:34 All thanks to a vaccine. His results were really, he had to like the teeter
00:38 levels, how they admit, you know, they check in your blood and his teacher
00:42 level was a 1 64, which is really high for a six pound dog. Michael's mom,
00:47 Kelly Cooley says just a two years old Michael, the Chihuahua tested positive
00:51 for valley fever. Since then, the small dog has gone through various fungal
00:54 medications to battle the infection and lost 23 teeth in the process to their
00:59 to anybody to there and the four canines and that's it. And he's, she said,
01:03 you added so many years by doing that and he's the health, he got so much
01:07 better again and he would not be alive if we had to done that because the
01:10 teeth will be, you know, the infection will kill you. Cooley says Michael
01:12 caught the illness in the backyard of their old house, saying she first
01:15 noticed him coughing and becoming more and more lethargic. But efforts from
01:19 the pharmaceutical pet company and a vibe could change the way the illness
01:22 is treated. Luckily for us, you know, when we ran the clinical studies, we
01:26 showed efficacy um across three different dose levels in dogs and it
01:32 was 100% effective at preventing clinical disease in these animals.
01:36 Founder and ceo of anna vibe, Dylan ball says this is a project seven years
01:41 in the making ball says while there are fungal treatments, they're not
01:44 permanent and the key is to create a more long term solution like a vaccine
01:48 ball says the vaccine is set to be released and approved for canine use in
01:52 the next 9 to 12 months. You may be asking yourself why dogs are first in
01:56 line for the vaccine ball says it's due to dog sharing similar symptoms to
02:00 humans. Dogs are used a lot of times um sort of as an analogy for people when
02:06 it comes to human health care since they get all the same diseases, they
02:08 get diabetes, cancer, bally fever obviously and at a much higher rate
02:13 aside from those asking balls when the vaccine will be available for people,
02:17 multiple zoos from both Arizona and California have reached out. He says as
02:21 of now they're waiting on approval from the USDA for animal use and then later
02:24 be approved by the FDA for human use for animals and people who are currently
02:29 affected by valley fever ball says they are currently unsure how the vaccine
02:32 would benefit them but hope to create a solution in the future. Cooley says
02:36 while it's unfortunate that this vaccine may not benefit Michael now, the
02:40 progress he's shown throughout the years is enough for her and recounts a
02:43 moment where Michael started to show true progress that walked in the
02:46 waiting room and he growls at her. No one else in the room but her. She sat
02:50 down beside him and she growled. I said, oh no, he was feeling better than you
02:54 know, he wanted, he stood up herself, he's ready to fight him now. We're
02:58 gonna get this off you son because it's got to be tight. There. Okay, I know
03:03 there. Michael is currently still going through treatment consisting of regular
03:08 blood work to ensure that the infection doesn't come back. His mom says that
03:12 although valley fever is a part of him now, it hasn't taken his bright
03:16 personality in oil Dale for beer of era 23 abc news connecting you