Date of Award
2025-05-01
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Environmental Science and Engineering
Advisor(s)
Gabriel G. Ibarra-Mejia
Abstract
Coccidioidomycosis, or Valley fever, is a fungal infection resulting from the inhalation of spores from the Coccidioides species (C. immitis and C. posadasii), native to arid areas of the Western Hemisphere. Coccidioidomycosis presents considerable health hazards and can be fatal. It affects between 206,000 and 360,000 individuals annually, leading to 700 to 1,100 fatalities in the United States alone. In response to these issues, extensive research has concentrated on therapeutic goals for this infectious disease. Nonetheless, more limited research has focused on the environmental detection of its causative fungi, which is crucial for forecasting treatment needs and formulating preventive strategies. This dissertation uncovers research deficiencies in the environmental detection of Coccidioides by conducting a comprehensive literature review of 21st-century publications and offering solutions to these challenges. Although Coccidioides has been reported in El Paso County, Texas, and Valley fever is a reportable disease in this county, this area has been inadequately studied for its presence. Therefore, my research also seeks Coccidioides hotspots by analyzing the presence of Coccidioides in various soil types across different regions of El Paso County, Texas, using contemporary molecular technologies such as qPCR. This work not only pinpoints research deficiencies in the topic of environmental detection of Coccidioides and provides respective remedies but also lays the groundwork for additional environmental Coccidioides research in El Paso County, Texas. This endeavor provides future researchers with an improved framework for conducting environmental analyses of Coccidioides detection, facilitating ongoing evaluations of the fungi and disease in environmental contexts, and aiding the development of preventive policies in El Paso, Texas.
Language
en
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
Copyright Date
2025-05
File Size
189 p.
File Format
application/pdf
Rights Holder
Tanzir Hossain
Recommended Citation
Hossain, Tanzir, "Navigating The Challenges Of Coccidioides Surveillance: Insights From The Environment Of El Paso County, Texas" (2025). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 4700.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/4700