Coccidioides immitis is a pathogen

Pathogen

A pathogen gignomai "I give birth to") or infectious agent — colloquially, a germ — is a microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its animal or plant host...

ic fungus

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 that resides in the soil

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

 in certain parts of the southwestern

Southwestern United States

The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...

 United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, northern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, and a few other areas in the Western Hemisphere

Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...

.

It, along with its relative Coccidioides posadasii

Coccidioides posadasii

Coccidioides posadasii is a pathogenic fungus that, along with Coccidioides immitis, is the causative agent of coccidioidomycosis in humans. It resides in the soil in certain parts of the Southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and certain other areas in the Americas.C. posadasii and C...

, can cause a disease called coccidioidomycosis

Coccidioidomycosis

Coccidioidomycosis 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...

 (Valley Fever), and it is a rare cause of meningitis

Meningitis

Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...

, mostly in immunocompromised

Immunodeficiency

Immunodeficiency is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or entirely absent. Immunodeficiency may also decrease cancer immunosurveillance. Most cases of immunodeficiency are acquired but some people are born with defects in their immune system,...

 persons. It has been declared a select agent

Select agent

In United States law, Select Agents are pathogens or biological toxins which have been declared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have the "potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety"...

 by both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and is considered a biosafety level 3 pathogen.

In popular culture

Coccidioides immitis is used as a plot device in Thunderhead

Thunderhead (novel)

Thunderhead is a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child about a woman named Nora Kelly who finds a letter that was written sixteen years ago, but mysteriously sent to her only recently. The letter is written by her father, long believed dead. The letter talks about a lost city of gold that...

, a novel by Douglas Preston

Douglas Preston

Douglas Preston is an American author who has written seventeen popular techno-thriller and horror novels, four alone and the rest with Lincoln Child...

 and Lincoln Child

Lincoln Child

Lincoln Child is an author of seventeen techno-thriller and horror novels. He often writes with Douglas Preston. Many of their novels have become bestsellers, and one, Relic, was adapted into a feature film...

. The fungus (prepared from infected victims) is revealed to be the principal agent in corpse powder (based on corpse poison used by Witch

Witch (Navajo)

There are a number of beliefs in traditional Navajo culture relating to practices which, in English, are all referred to as 'witchcraft.' In the Navajo language, they are actually each referred to distinctly, and are regarded as separate, albeit related, phenomena.The practices lumped together in...

). It was also mentioned by the fictional antihero Dr Gregory House (played by actor James Hugh Calum Laurie) on the Television Series, House MD

House (TV series)

House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

  (episode Lines in the Sand).