# Elucidating the role of rodent hosts on the transmission dynamics of coccidioidomycosis in California

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2021 · $37,077

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Coccidioidomycosis is an infection caused by inhalation of spores from the soil-dwelling fungi Coccidioides
immitis or C. posadasii, and can lead to chronic lung infection, meningitis, or death. Southwestern states are
currently experiencing among the highest incidence rates of coccidioidomycosis ever recorded. The disease
has levied a substantial human and economic burden throughout the southwest, totaling an estimated $2.2
billion in charges in California alone for coccidioidomycosis-associated hospitalizations from 2000-2011.
Critical gaps in understanding have hindered the public health response, including how rodent host abundance
and infection interacts to support pathogen transmission in the environment, as well as how environmental
factors act in concert with reservoir hosts to sustain coccidioidomycosis incidence. To address these gaps, this
project investigates the impacts of rodent host abundance and species characteristics, soil type, and
environmental variability on rodent host infection prevalence and human coccidioidomycosis infection rates in
California. The research focuses on three aims: 1) investigate the influence of host abundance on the
spatiotemporal distribution of human cocci incidence using geolocated surveillance records from 2000 to 2018;
2) examine risk factors for rodent host infection and determine the specific soil conditions that are associated
with rodent infection as compared to human infection; and 3) investigate how species-specific host abundance
and infection prevalence interact to explain heterogeneity in risk of human cocci. In pursuit of these aims, we
will combine georeferenced coccidioidomycosis case data across California since 2000 (N>65,000) at an
unprecedented spatial resolution with longitudinal data on reservoir host abundance and infection. World-class
existing data sources on host abundance will be leveraged including the Grinnell Resurvey Program (2003-
2016)--the most comprehensive field survey of small mammals in California--and small mammal monitoring
programs of several state institutions. Through laboratory analysis of host specimens (N = 300) archived within
UC Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, the third largest mammal collection in the US, the research will
identify specific soil conditions and host species posing the greatest risk for infection, and whether the
abundance of certain host species are more implicated in human incidence. The results will yield the most
comprehensive investigation of the role of rodent hosts on incidence of coccidioidomycosis, elucidating new
insights into the environmental biology and epidemiology of the fungus. The knowledge gained will inform
means of prevention by increasing understanding of whether rodent hosts are an important risk factor,
identifying areas at highest risk given known species ranges, and improving predictions of incidence under
climate and land use scenarios that modify host abundance. The proposed training will ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10216947
- **Project number:** 5F31AI152430-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Head
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $37,077
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2022-05-16

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10216947

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10216947, Elucidating the role of rodent hosts on the transmission dynamics of coccidioidomycosis in California (5F31AI152430-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10216947. Licensed CC0.

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