The fungal spores that spread Valley Fever have always been around but there's been a marked increase of cases in the the past ten years in the West and Southwest.

Recently, a California judge has ordered that a couple thousand inmates in two California prisons be relocated due to the higher risk that the inmates have demonstrated compared to the surrounding population.

No one is really sure why Valley Fever is becoming more common. Could be related to shifts in climate. The whole region is definitely getting hotter and drier. Maybe that allows more spores to go airborne on the wind.