I've heard of a few cases in the area lately. This is not a pleasant illness to endure by any stretch of the imagination. I've heard that at least a few people in Kern County have filed lawsuits against construction companies who put up a lot of dust while bulldozing areas in preparation for building houses near existing residential areas. The companies should have thoroughly dampened the soil to prevent the dust from blowing, but they failed to take this precaution and now individuals living near the construction site have contracted valley fever and are blaming it on the construction company.
Coccidioidomycosis (commonly known as "Valley fever", as well as "California fever", "Desert rheumatism", and "San Joaquin Valley fever") is a fungal disease caused by Coccidioides immitis or C. posadasii. It is endemic in certain parts of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and northwestern Mexico. C. immitis resides in the soil in certain parts of the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. It is dormant during long dry spells, then develops as a mold with long filaments that break off into airborne spores when the rains come. The spores, known as arthroconidia, are swept into the air by disruption of the soil, such as during construction, farming, or an earthquake.
LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccidioidomycosis