Sarah M. Rios, "Diseases Have No Eyes: Valley Fever and Environmental Health Justice" (Temple UP, 2026)

Diseases Have No Eyes: Valley Fever and Environmental Health Justice (Temple University Press, 2026) investigates

how communities in Central Valley, California deal with Valley Fever, a

painful illness caused by a soil fungus. The airborne disease’s

symptoms can last from two months to a patient’s lifetime and may be

fatal. Nearly a

third of the national cases are reported in California, where those

infected are disproportionately farmworkers and people incarcerated in

the region. Poverty, pollution, and prison expose these groups to

cumulative environmental and health risks that deny Valley Fever

patients adequate medical treatment.

Dr.

Sarah M. Rios examines how these populations face racial health