Bipartisan bill to accelerate human vaccine for Valley fever introduced in Congress

Two U.S. representatives, Greg Stanton (AZ-4), a Democrat representing the southeast Phoenix area, and John Duarte (CA-13), a Republican representing California’s Central Valley between Fresno and Stockton, introduced a bill to promote and coordinate a national effort toward a human vaccine for the deadly respiratory disease, Valley fever.

The bill, the Valley Fever Awareness and Vaccine Development and Manufacturing Act of 2024 (HR9942), was submitted Oct. 8 to Congress. It would authorize $1 million in 2026 for an assessment on the vaccine’s current vaccine and development status. An additional $25 million a year would be allocated from FY2025 through FY2030 for a vaccine development plan and a similar amount per year over the same period for a vaccine manufacturing plan. 

It’s quickly picking up co-sponsors as well, with five additional representatives supporting it to date. Full text of the bill here.

Valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis or cocci, is caused by inhalation of fungal spores of Coccidioides which are endemic to soils of the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico. Its symptoms range from mild cold- or flu-like to pneumonia lasting weeks and possibly spreading from the lungs to blood, bone and brain tissue. About 200 people die each year of the illness, reports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority of cases occur in Arizona and California, but recent studies indicate its spread due to effects of extreme heat and potential climate change with cases spotted in the Pacific Northwest as well.

In press releases from both Congressmen’s offices, John N. Galgiani, MD, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson‘s Department of Medicine and Valley Fever Center for Excellence director, is quoted as saying that the public health benefit from a vaccine would be enormous for those living in endemic regions and could protect visitors from around the nation and globe to those areas, including tourists.

“There is certainly accelerated interest in a Valley fever vaccine,” Dr. Galgiani said Oct. 24. 

Backing that premise, he pointed to the VFCE hosting the Nov. 3, 2023, Western Regional Workshop on Valley Fever that discussed current vaccine initiatives. Then, he noted, the FDA/NIH/CDC held a joint workshop this past August highlighting Valley fever vaccines in which he and VFCE and Infectious Diseases division colleague Fariba Donovan, MD, PhD, participated. And, he mentioned the NIH contract for up to $33 million for the U of A-discovered vaccine awarded to Anivive Lifesciences to take it from a veterinary product to a first-in-human clinical trial. 

“So, there is a vaccine candidate that’s close to clinical testing. There also are second-generation vaccines under development, not yet validated but offering potential alternate approaches, one of which is from Northern Arizona University,” he added.

“And it is noteworthy that this effort is framed as bipartisan. This makes perfect sense about a disease that’s decidedly nonpartisan.”