CocciEnv qPCR data and accompanying metadata from soil and settled dust in the San Joaquin Valley

Coccidioidomycosis is a typically respiratory fungal disease that, in the United States, occurs primarily in Arizona and California. In California, most coccidioidomycosis cases occur in the San Joaquin Valley, a primarily agricultural region where the disease poses a risk for outdoor workers. We collected 710 soil samples and 265 settled dust samples from nine sites in the San Joaquin Valley and examined how Coccidioides detection varied by month, site, and the presence and abundance of other fungal species. We detected Coccidioides in 89 of 238 (37.4%) rodent burrow soil samples at five undeveloped sites and were unable to detect Coccidioides in any of 472 surface and subsurface soil samples at four agricultural sites. In what is the largest sampling effort undertaken on agricultural land, our results provide no evidence that agricultural soils in the San Joaquin Valley harbor Coccidioides. We found no clear association between Coccidioides and the greater soil fungal community, but w..., ,