Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41733443›Full record

ArticleMedical mycology2026

Hypothesis on the dust-borne atmospheric transport of Coccidioides, causative fungal pathogen for coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever).

Morgan E Gorris, Bridget M Barker

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical mycology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Morgan E GorrisInformation Systems and Modeling, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3949-4274
Bridget M BarkerDepartment of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3439-4517

Funding

Early in vivo Expressed Antigens and their Role in Virulence, Immune Response, and Vaccines for CoccidioidomycosisU19AI166058 · NIAID · NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY · PI Deborah H. Fuller · 2022 to 2026
$12.1M
Virulence gene discovery in CoccidioidesU19AI166798 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Satya Dandekar · 2022 to 2026
$10.5M
Novel antifungal agents against coccidioidomycosisR01AI175635 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · PI Maciej Walczak · 2024 to 2026
$2.2M
Regulation of infectious spore formation in the fungal pathogen Coccidioides posadasiiR21AI193607 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI BREM, RACHEL BETH · 2025 to 2025
$438k
Laboratory Directed Research and Development 20220209ERLaboratory Directed Research and Development 20240348ERLaboratory Directed Research and Development 20250759ECRLos Alamos National LaboratoryNIH/NIAID R01AI175635NIH/NIAID R21AI193607NIH/NIAID U19AI166058NIH/NIAID U19AI166798
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

For many decades, the fungal pathogen (Coccidioides spp.) that causes coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) has been associated with dust exposure. However, the mechanism of atmospheric transport of arthroconidia has yet to be defined. As such, it is unclear whether the association between dust exposure and Coccidioides is coincidental or not: do soil-disturbing events simultaneously cause both free-floating Coccidioides conidia and dust particles (i.e., particulate matter) to become entrained in the atmosphere, or is Coccidioides attached to dust particles and they are jointly suspended? In this short article, we propose the dust-borne atmospheric transport hypothesis: Coccidioides conidia are transported in the atmosphere attached to dust particles, which protect the fungi from harsh environmental conditions like desiccation and UV exposure, allowing them to travel far while remaining viable in comparison to free-floating aerial transport. If true, the dust-borne atmospheric transport hypothesis provides a means for mechanistically modeling the transport and exposure risk of Coccidioides via atmospheric dispersion modeling and suggests health implications from simultaneous exposure to dust and a fungal pathogen.

Indexed as

Air MicrobiologyCoccidioidesCoccidioidomycosisDustAtmosphereHumansSpores, FungalDustCoccidioidescoccidioidomycosisdust-borneexposurefungi

Identifiers

PMID41733443
PMCPMC13017150

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.