Arizona
New rapid test could revolutionize valley fever diagnosis in Arizona
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Thousands of people are diagnosed with valley fever every year in Arizona, and sometimes you can be misdiagnosed because the symptoms are so similar to other illnesses like the flu.
Now, local doctors have developed a new rapid test for valley fever that can detect the infection in just 10 minutes. They say it will help you get the right treatment faster. The average time to diagnose a patient with valley fever is close to three weeks, but now, with this test, they can detect the infection in just 10 minutes.
Valley resident Chris Sams has had valley fever for eight years now.
“It has impacted all aspects of my life,” Sams said. “I started to get sick. I started going through cold sweats and rapid weight loss. I think the worst is the brain fog. I’ve now been married to my wife for almost three years, but now I don’t remember my wedding.”
Sams got valley fever after moving to Arizona. He had never heard of the sickness before coming here.
Valley fever is a lung infection caused by breathing in fungus found in dry soil, mainly across the Southwest. While some people have little to no symptoms, the infection can spread to the bones, brain or spine in more severe cases.
“At first I was admitted into the hospital, and then I was put on an isolation floor because they thought it was tuberculosis, cancer or valley fever,” he said. “That took a week for that to get tested before they actually realized that I had valley fever.”
Doctor Thomas Grys with the Mayo Clinic says that delay is far too common.
“The median time to diagnosis is 23 days, so half of the people take more than 23 days to find out they have valley fever,” he said.
He says that because symptoms are similar to the flu or pneumonia, valley fever can often be misdiagnosed, and current tests can be slow and unclear, which can delay the appropriate treatment.
“Some patients come in four to five times until they figure out what is happening,” he said.
Grys has been working with ASU researchers over the last five years to create this new rapid valley fever test. It looks similar to a COVID-19 test and can give patients an answer faster. The goal is to detect valley fever more accurately and earlier.
“To be able to know within a matter of minutes versus seven to 10 days or two to three weeks of not knowing what you have and what treatment it is. It’s an amazing step forward in medicine right now,” Sams said.
The test is expected to be available for doctors’ offices by the end of the year. While there is no vaccine for valley fever, Dr. Grys says an animal vaccine could be ready within the next 12-18 months because they can get the infection too.
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(Stacker) – Stacker compiled statistics on gas prices in Arizona using data from AAA. Gas prices are as of May 1.
Arizona by the numbers
– Gas current price: $4.72
– Week change: +$0.08 (+1.7%)
– Year change: +$1.41 (+42.8%)
– Historical expensive gas price: $5.39 (6/17/22)
– Diesel current price: $5.80
– Week change: -$0.08 (-1.3%)
– Year change: +$2.30 (+65.9%)
– Historical expensive diesel price: $6.21 (4/8/26)
Metros with most expensive gas in Arizona
#1. Scottsdale: $4.90
#2. Peoria: $4.84
#3. Phoenix Proper: $4.82
#4. Glendale: $4.82
#5. West Valley: $4.80
#6. Phoenix-Mesa: $4.80
#7. East Valley: $4.80
#8. Yuma: $4.75
#9. Flagstaff: $4.73
#10. Lake Havasu-Kingman: $4.70
#11. Prescott: $4.69
#12. Sierra Vista-Douglas: $4.55
#13. Tucson: $4.53
#14. Pima County: $4.53
States with the least expensive gas
#1. Georgia: $3.80
#2. Oklahoma: $3.82
#3. Mississippi: $3.83
#4. Arkansas: $3.84
#5. Louisiana: $3.84
Read on to see which states have the most expensive gas prices.
#5. Nevada
– Regular gas price: $5.15
#4. Oregon
– Regular gas price: $5.21
#3. Washington
– Regular gas price: $5.61
#2. Hawaii
– Regular gas price: $5.64
#1. California
– Regular gas price: $6.06
src=”https://analytics.stacker.com/tracking/0a06cfd3-db49-4351-b9ca-8050a3d4c4f3/script.js?source=story-hub” async>
Copyright 2026 Stacker via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
A dad visiting the Phoenix Zoo says his family was in disbelief when staff suddenly told everyone to leave. Holding his 7-month-old baby, he says the fear set in as they rushed to their car without knowing why. Police later said the bomb threat appears to have been fake. Stephanie Duprey has more.
PHOENIX — The Mammoth have generated a buzz in Utah, igniting a new fan base with a trip to the playoffs in their second season.
The previous fan base back in the desert still feels a connection with the franchise once known as the Arizona Coyotes and the players who set the foundation for its current success.
But there’s also a strange detachment from seeing the team they once rooted for playing in a city more than 600 miles away under a different name.
“I’m a hockey fan and I’ve been cheering for them; most of those guys, that team, that organization were here,” Maricopa County Supervisor Tom Galvin said on Friday. “But in many ways, I feel disconnected from them. They’re playing in Utah, they have Utah fans, they play in a Utah arena.”
Galvin is trying to bring NHL hockey back to the Phoenix area.
Not long after the Coyotes left for Utah in 2024, he helped create an advisory committee that includes former Olympian Lyndsey Fry and Andrea Doan.
Fry, who grew up in the Phoenix area, has been a stalwart in Arizona youth hockey through various programs and spearheads community relations for the committee.
Utah Mammoth left wing Brandon Tanev (13) attempts to shoot against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Las Vegas. Credit: AP/John Locher
Doan has strong ties to hockey; her husband, Shane, was the longtime captain of the Coyotes and her son, Josh, is a current NHL player who started his career with the Coyotes. She works with Galvin on finding a potential owner for a potential NHL expansion team and possible sites for a new arena.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had repeatedly said the league would like to have a franchise in Arizona again — it owns the Coyotes name — but the right ownership and arena location have to be in place.
“We have to find a good and appropriate location for an arena — that has been an issue bedeviling the Coyotes for the better part of 25 years — and we need a billionaire to put up money to buy the team,” said Galvin, who works on the advisory committee on his own time. “So my joke is, if you know a billionaire, please let me know because there’s not that many around and that’s what it takes in professional sports these days.”
The Coyotes struggled during their 28-year run in Arizona, going through multiple owners and three different arenas.
The franchise had an arena plan for Tempe, but voters shot it down. Another proposal for an arena in Scottsdale fell through when previous owner Alex Meruelo couldn’t secure a land-rights deal, leading to the franchise’s move to Utah.
Coyotes fans have tried to keep a connection to the new version of the team, but it’s not quite the same from long distance.
“I’ve got to tell you, my enthusiasm for them really dropped off,” Galvin said. “But I do love watching hockey and enjoy watching great other teams.”
Galvin is doing his best to bring it back to Arizona in person.
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