Governor Brown has signed into law two bills related to the disease valley fever, both written by Kern County Assemblymember Rudy Salas.
The laws both aim to streamline the disease’s reporting guidelines, which until now have been inconsistent over time and among health agencies throughout the state.
One of the laws institutes a reporting deadline for the state public health department to collect data on cases. The other allows cases to be confirmed using blood tests only, without the need for a clinical diagnosis.
The two laws were part of a package of four bills introduced by Assemblymember Salas earlier this year. Although one of the other two bills stalled in May, the fourth, which would bolster physician training related to the disease, is likely to also make it to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk by the end of the state legislative session on Friday.
