California Must Move 2100 Inmates at Risk of Valley Fever

California officials will have to move more than 2,000 inmates from two Central Valley prisons because they could be susceptible to contracting a potentially deadly illness.

Test results released Thursday showed that another 3,000 inmates have already been exposed to the soil-borne fungus that causes valley fever and could be moved to the prisons near Fresno.

The decision comes after inmates statewide were tested earlier this month for previous exposure to valley fever.

The tests found that more than 2,100 inmates at Avenal and Pleasant Valley state prisons have not been exposed and so are in danger of contracting the infection.

The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation plans to work with the federal court-appointed receiver who controls prison medical care to transfer the inmates as quickly as possible.