By Julie Cart | Los Angeles Times
Epidemiologists are investigating an outbreak of valley fever that has sickened 28 workers at two large solar power construction sites in San Luis Obispo County.
Staff from the California Department of Public Health, and investigators from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health and San Luis Obispo County visited the sites near the Carrizo Plain two months ago, officials said.
They identified the sites as the Topaz Solar Farm and California Valley Solar Ranch, two large-scale photovoltaic power plants whose construction often requires considerable scraping and clearing to make way for thousands of acres of solar panels.
Valley fever, also known as Coccidioidomycosis, is contracted by breathing in fungal spores released when desert soils are disturbed. The illness is prevalent in many areas of the California desert and is common among agricultural workers and construction crews. It is not contagious.
