U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) sponsored bipartisan legislation to help fight Valley Fever, an infection caused by the coccidioides fungus that is known to live in the soil in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico and Central and South America.
“For years, our community has worked to tackle Valley Fever head on. And though we have made progress, we have never forgotten the critical need to find effective treatments, a cure, and ultimately a vaccine,” Rep. McCarthy said on Oct. 13.
Recent high-wind advisories in Kern County, Calif., served as an important reminder of that need, the congressman said, when they caused Valley Fever “to be a greater-than-normal threat in our community.”
“Given that strong winds are notorious for kicking up the fungal spores that cause Valley Fever, making cures and a vaccine [are] all the more important,” said Rep. McCarthy, who is co-chair of the congressional Valley Fever Task Force.
The Finding Orphan-disease Remedies with Antifungal Research and Development (FORWARD) Act of 2021, H.R. 5566, which Rep. McCarthy introduced on Oct. 12 with three original cosponsors including U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), would work to address challenges related to detecting, treating and ultimately eliminating Valley Fever by incentivizing antifungal therapeutics and vaccine development, according to a bill summary provided by the congressman’s office.
“As we continue to recover from a global pandemic resulting from viral respiratory illness COVID-19, we must refocus our efforts to better address fungal lung diseases, such as Valley Fever, which can complicate COVID-19 response efforts,” Rep. McCarthy said. “The FORWARD Act takes a robust approach to combating this disease by focusing on short-term, medium-term, and long-term solutions to develop new treatments, therapies, and a vaccine.”
Specifically, H.R. 5566 would support and prioritize basic research for Valley Fever and other fungal diseases by authorizing $20 million annually through fiscal year 2026 for the National Institutes of Health to enter into grants or contracts for vaccine/drug development, and create a federal working group to coordinate research efforts on fungal diseases, according to the summary.
Among several provisions, the bill also would streamline the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval process to get new antifungal diagnostics, treatments and vaccines approved for use in humans, and directs the FDA to include Valley Fever in its priority review voucher program to further incentivize the development of new treatments, cures and vaccines, the summary says.
H.R. 5566 is supported by the Valley Fever Institute at Kern Medical and the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson.