coccidioides

noun

coc·​cid·​i·​oi·​des -ˈȯid-ˌēz 

1

capitalized : a genus of ascomycetous fungi (family Onygenaceae) found especially in dry, warm soils that produce infectious arthroconidia and cause coccidioidomycosis

Valley fever is acquired by breathing Coccidioides spores that are present in the air when soil and dust are disturbed.

—Jill Jin, The Journal of the American Medical Association

2

plural coccidioides : a fungus of the genus Coccidioides

In many parts of the Valley, digging releases coccidioides, a fungus that lives in the arid soil of the American southwest (and semi-arid Valley soil). The fungus causes valley fever.

—Michael Fitzgerald, The Record (Stockton, California)