California health officials are urging people attending the Lightning in a Bottle music festival in Kern County to seek immediate medical attention if they develop respiratory symptoms or fever.
Authorities have identified five people with valley fever who attended the six-day event, which took place May 22-27 at Lake Buena Vista near Bakersfield. Three people have been hospitalized.
More than 20,000 people attended the festival.
A festival companion was hospitalized for two weeks with “severe” valley fever, an attendee said in a Reddit r/LightningInaBottle post.
“If you have unexplained symptoms such as fever, chills, and headache/neck pain, tell your doctor it could be valley fever, even if it’s been months,” the user wrote.
Valley fever is an infectious disease caused by Coccidioides, a fungus that grows in the soil and dirt in some areas of California. It is most commonly found in California’s San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast.
Health officials say most people exposed to the fungus will not eventually develop the disease, but it can infect the lungs and cause respiratory symptoms in some people, including coughing, difficulty breathing, fever and fatigue.
In rare cases, the fungus can spread to other parts of the body and cause serious illness.
Valley fever is not contagious. Past outbreaks have been linked to exposure to dust and dirt during outdoor activities and workplaces where the dirt is disturbed — in areas of the state where the fungus is common.
Valley fever is on the rise in California, with particularly high numbers of cases reported in 2023 and 2024.
A 2022 study in the medical journal The Lancet concluded that multi-year cycles of dry conditions and wet winters increase transmission, particularly in historically wet areas. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and duration of droughts in the southwestern United States, potentially increasing the prevalence of valley fever spores and fungi.
Kern County has the highest incidence rate in the state, accounting for about one-third of cases on average.
State health officials say people who have been to Kern County in recent months and have respiratory symptoms that do not improve or last more than a week should see a health care provider and ask about possible Valley fever.
They also urge people to mention attending music festivals or traveling to Kern County.
Attendees can visit the California Department of Public Health’s Valley Fever Survey website to learn more and share details about any disease.
Another Reddit user said they contracted the disease two weeks after returning home to Colorado from a music festival.
The music fan described a “terrible” cough, headache, body aches, fever and chills. This Reddit user isn’t sure if he’ll go back next year.
“Don’t want to miss it…but I also don’t want to get another fungal infection in my lungs. Oops.
