Can Valley Fever relapse and can dogs be reinfected?
Valley Fever is well known to relapse in both humans and dogs. In particular, cases of disseminated infection have a 30-50% rate of relapse in humans, no matter how well the initial infection was treated. It is not known how many canine cases of Valley Fever relapse, but relapses are not uncommon. In the case of a relapse, a return to medication is usually enough to make symptoms subside, but the dog may require several additional months of treatment. Dogs that experience more than one relapse or get very sick with the relapse should probably have lifetime treatment with medication considered. Reinfections in humans are documented only rarely. It is not known at this time whether dogs are susceptible to reinfection.
Valley Fever is well known to relapse in both humans and dogs. In particular, cases of disseminated infection have a 30-50% rate of relapse in humans, no matter how well the initial infection was treated. It is not known how many canine cases of Valley Fever relapse, but relapses are not uncommon. In the case of a relapse, a return to medication is usually enough to make symptoms subside, but the dog may require several additional months of treatment. Dogs that experience more than one relapse or get very sick with the relapse should probably have lifetime treatment with medication considered. Reinfections in humans are documented only rarely. It is not known at this time whether dogs are susceptible to reinfection. The Valley Fever Center for Excellence, established in 1995, is located at the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System’s facility and is jointly sponsored by the University of Arizona and the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System.The VFCE is the only center of its type and is
