Also please read: Mold Health Article

To find a Certified Mold Inspector or Certified Mold Remediator in your area, or to be trained & certified as a mold inspection, testing, remediation, and prevention expert, please visit: Mold Professional.

For in depth information about the health effects of exposure to toxic mold and
how to diagnose and treat mold illnesses, read our new book Mold Health Guide.

Learn the 25 steps for successful mold remediation and mold decontamination.

Mold-Caused Skin Diseases
Also read: Desert Mold

          Mold causes dozens of serious skin diseases. This page explains one mold-caused skin disease [popularly known as "Valley Fever"] that has afflicted millions of people living in southwestern United States. This explanation and the photo's below are from the excellent book The Fifth Kingdom by Bryce Kendrick ---

          Coccidioidomycosis is a nasty tongue-twister of a name, often contracted to 'coccy', for the disease caused by Coccidioides immitis. This fungus thrives in dry, saline soils, and is endemic in desert areas of the Southwestern U.S., where the disease is often called 'valley fever,' and Mexico (though it is strangely absent from the deserts of Africa and Asia). The process of infection, progress of the disease, and clinical symptoms, are very similar to those of histoplasmosis, though the fungus is not intracellular, and forms spherical structures containing spores. In culture, the same fungus produces chains of alternate thallic-arthric conidia, and has no known teleomorph. Millions of people in the U.S. Southwest have contracted the disease. Fortunately, as in histoplasmosis, most cases are benign, and healing is spontaneous. A few become systemic, and are usually fatal if untreated or misdiagnosed. The disseminated form of this disease is more common among males than females, and among people with darkly pigmented skin.

           The year 2001 has seen an interesting outbreak of this disease in Dinosaur National Monument, Utah.  Ten people who had been working at a 'dig' developed acute respiratory coccoidioidomycosis within two weeks of exposure.  All were treated with fluconazole, with an average hospital stay of 1.5 days, and released apparently none the worse for their experience.  New regulations for digs at Dinosaur call for watering down of the soil before digging, and use of approved respirators (N95).
        For more information and to learn more about this event, please visit the web site:  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5045a1.htm

Disseminated coccidioidomycosis, caused by Coccidioides immitis.