Coccidioidomycosis among cast and crew members at an outdoor television filming event--California, 2012.

In March 2013, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) identified two Doctor’s First Reports of Occupational Injury or Illness (DFRs)* regarding Los Angeles County residents who had worked at the same jobsite in January 2012 and had been evaluated for possible work-associated coccidioidomycosis (valley fever). Occupational exposure to Coccidioides, the causative fungi, typically is associated with soil-disrupting activities (1). The physicians noted that both workers were cast or crew members filming a television series episode, and the site of possible exposure was an outdoor set in Ventura County, California. On the basis of their job titles, neither would have been expected to have been engaged in soildisrupting activities. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) conducted an outbreak investigation by using CDPH-provided occupational surveillance records, traditional infectious disease surveillance, and social media searches. This report describes the results of that investigation, which identified a total of five laboratory-confirmed and five probable cases linked to this filming event. The employer and site manager were interviewed. The site manager stated that they would no longer allow soil-disruptive work at the site and would incorporate information about the potential risk for Coccidioides exposure onsite into work contracts. Public health professionals, clinicians, and the television and film industry should be aware that employees working outdoors in areas where Coccidioides is endemic (e.g., central and southern California), even those not engaged in soil-disruptive work, might be at risk for coccidioidomycosis. Review of DFRs for coccidioidomycosis diagnoses initially identified two patients who worked for the same employer and listed work-associated coccidioidomycosis as the claimed illness. Patient 1, an actor, sought evaluation at an emergency department on February 28, 2012, after a 2-week history of fever and cough. Patient 1 had received a letter from his employer dated February 17, 2012, stating that a member of the cast or crew present at an outdoor filming event during January 17–19 in Ventura County had a diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis; patient 1 had also worked at this filming Coccidioidomycosis Among Cast and Crew Members at an Outdoor Television Filming Event — California, 2012