Congress launches valley fever task force website

Above: In this 2013 file photo, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield leads a Congressional Valley Fever Task force, which includes Rep. David Schweikert, R-Arizona, center, and Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, during a question-and-answer period at the Valley Fever Symposium held at Cal State Bakersfield (Photo Credit: Henry. A Barrios, The Californian)

By Harold Pierce, hpierce@bakersfield.com | The Bakersfield Californian

Kicking off Valley Fever Awareness Month in Kern County, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., launched the Congressional Valley Fever Task Force website Tuesday.

The site serves as the online home for the bipartisan task force, which was founded in 2013 to reduce misdiagnosis, increase awareness and find a viable cure to valley fever, or coccidioidomycosis, a fungal disease that infects more than 150,000 people annual in the United States.

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