Valley Fever on the Rise in California

DizzyDigger

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Nokta FoRs Gold, a Gold Cube, 2 Keene Sluices and Lord only knows how many pans....not to mention a load of other gear my wife still doesn't know about!
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Prospecting
All you dry washers out there need to pay attention to this....if you're gonna be out digging, make damn sure you've got some protection over your face..like an N95 mask.

Valley Fever is nothing to mess with..
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"California is heading toward another record year for cases of Valley fever, the disease caused by fungal spores linked to cycles of drought and precipitation.

There were 3,123 reported cases of Valley fever in the first three months of the year, according to state health officials — roughly double the 10-year average for the first-quarter time period. Cases ranged from a low of 801 in 2016 to 3,011 last year.

.....Because most people clear the disease on their own, the true number of infected people is not known. However, if a person's immune system is unable to clear the disease, and it is left untreated, it can cause death or permanent disability."


Not worth the risk, when all ya gotta do is wear a mask.
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Thanks for the heads up - I always have a mask on when running drywasher but some times
when I'm digging in a hole and kicking up some dust I don't - I will now mast up digging.
Thanks Mike
 

I was an archaeologist in Southern California for many years, starting in the 1970s. Early in my career I and two colleagues were working on a small site associated with but isolated from a larger site. We all contracted valley fever. I developed a chronic case; the other two died. Doctors told me that I would probably live into my forties and then die rather suddenly.
When you are 21, being told that you will live until your forties is like being told that you will live forever. Still, it was always in the back of my mind and shaped my life in many ways, and not necessarily for the better. It is worth avoiding if you can.
 

Thanks for the heads up - I always have a mask on when running drywasher but some times
when I'm digging in a hole and kicking up some dust I don't - I will now mast up digging.
Thanks Mike
I reckon the hole will appreciate your mast up situation. Otherwise you would be considered a disappointment.
 

I reckon the hole will appreciate your mast up situation. Otherwise you would be considered a disappointment.
Huh ?? humorous - sarcastic - not sure how to make sense of this comment ?
Please explain
 

He said, and I quote: 'I will now mast up digging.' You sir now owe me a beer as do DD and PJ :D

Actually, I saw that and was just egging you on....
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Beer it is; I'll buy anyway. If Bodfish Mike will join us, then lets meet up at the Sag A Bar and Grill, right in the heart of downtown Milky Way. I hear the place is pretty cool once you get through the front door.
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All you dry washers out there need to pay attention to this....if you're gonna be out digging, make damn sure you've got some protection over your face..like an N95 mask.

Valley Fever is nothing to mess with..View attachment 2204490


"California is heading toward another record year for cases of Valley fever, the disease caused by fungal spores linked to cycles of drought and precipitation.

There were 3,123 reported cases of Valley fever in the first three months of the year, according to state health officials — roughly double the 10-year average for the first-quarter time period. Cases ranged from a low of 801 in 2016 to 3,011 last year.

.....Because most people clear the disease on their own, the true number of infected people is not known. However, if a person's immune system is unable to clear the disease, and it is left untreated, it can cause death or permanent disability."


Not worth the risk, when all ya gotta do is wear a mask. View attachment 2204495
Some nasty stuff in the ground that's for sure. I was hospitalised once from something when nugget hunting. On oxygen, drips, oral antibiotics and intravenous. They had no idea what it was but it was from the ground. Within half an hr of digging a target I felt something was wrong. Went home and straight to bed, must have passed out as the misses called a Dr and put me straight away in hospital. For all the tests it remained a mystery what it actually was. I was in isolation for 2 days as they were worried if it may have been contagious. I avoid the place I got it like the plague to this day.
 

He said, and I quote: 'I will now mast up digging.' You sir now owe me a beer as do DD and PJ :D
Ok you guys got me - I use to tell my co workers do what I mean not what I say.
I'm Dyslexic or as some have called me Lexdicksic.
Beers on me and thanks for the reminder on Valley Fever

Cheers Mike
 

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