BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — On Friday, Congressman Kevin McCarthy announced that a $2 million increase in funding has been secured for Valley Fever.

In a news release, McCarthy said "November 30, 2019, the California Department of Public Health has reported an over ten percent increase in California cases compared to the first eleven months of 2018, and yet there is still no approved cure or vaccine, and treatments remain limited."

The increase in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will expand Valley Fever surveillance, research, and awareness efforts in the federal government’s 2020 budget, according to McCarthy.

On Friday, Representative TJ Cox Introduced End Valley Fever Now Act of H.R. 5438.

Cox said the act will address the potentially deadly disease, caused by breathing toxic spores found in the soil in California’s Central Valley.

"Valley Fever can be deadly and troubling data shows it’s only going to get worse with climate change,” said Rep. Cox.

There were 2,937 cases in Kern County in 2018, according to the Kern County Department of Public Health.