Candida auris (C. auris) is an emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat. CDC is concerned about C. auris for 3 main reasons:

1. It is often multidrug-resistant, meaning multiple antifungal drugs are less or not at all effective in treating C. auris.
2. It is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology. Misidentification may lead to inappropriate management.
3. It has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings. It is important to quickly identify C. auris in a hospitalized patient so that healthcare facilities can take special precautions to stop its spread.

Most C. auris cases in the United States have been detected in the New York City area, New Jersey, and the Chicago area. Clusters of cases have also recently been described in Florida, Texas, and California. C. auris cases in the United States are originally a result of inadvertent introduction into the United States from a patient who had received healthcare in a country where C. auris has been reported.  Most cases now are a result of local spread after such an introduction.

CDC

CDC

C. auris “is an emerging fungus that is causing difficult-to-control outbreaks of invasive healthcare-associated infections. Since the first report of C. auris in 2009 [2], cases have been reported worldwide. Identification of C. auris requires specialised laboratory methodology as traditional identification methods may lead to misidentification [3,4]. In addition, C. auris has been associated with resistance to multiple antifungal classes [5] and difficulties related to the interpretation of antifungal susceptibility results [6]. The combination of these characteristics, i.e. propensity to cause nosocomial outbreaks, multi-drug resistance, ability to cause severe disease and difficulties with laboratory detection, render C. auris a public health threat ….”

CDC

September 18, 2017: Case Count Updated as of August 31, 2017

Candida auris is an emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat. C. auris causes severe illness in hospitalized patients in several countries, including the United States. Patients can remain colonized with C. auris for a long time and C. auris can persist on surfaces in healthcare environments. This can result in spread of C. auris between patients in healthcare facilities.

Most C. auris cases in the United States have been detected in the New York City area and New Jersey. Strains of C. auris in the United States have been linked to other parts of the world. U.S. C. auris cases are a result of inadvertent introduction into the United States from a patient who recently received healthcare in a country where C. auris has been reported or a result of local spread after such an introduction.

Please note that as of September 18, 2017, the total case counts reported include both probable and confirmed clinical cases; previously reported case counts included only confirmed cases. Case counts for some states are quite a bit higher than those listed before September 18, 2017 because of the change in reporting, and not because of a large increase in new cases. Read more below about how cases are defined.

U.S. Map: Clinical cases of Candida auris reported by state, United States, as of August 31, 2017

Cases are categorized by the state where the specimen was collected. Most probable cases were identified when laboratories with current cases of C. auris reviewed past microbiology records for C. auris. Isolates were not available for confirmation. Early detection of C. auris is essential for containing its spread in healthcare facilities.

Table: Clinical cases of Candida auris reported by state, United States, as of August 31, 2017

State	Number and type of clinical Candida auris cases reported
	Confirmed	Probable
California	1	0
Connecticut	1	0
Florida	2	0
Illinois	4	0
Indiana	1	0
Maryland	1	0
Massachusetts	3	0
New Jersey	26	23
New York	86	4
Oklahoma	1	0
TOTAL	126	27

Beyond the clinical case counts reported above, an additional 143 patients have been found to be colonized with C. auris by targeted screening in four states with clinical cases.

CDC will update case counts monthly.

CDC

CDC

Candida auris is an emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat. Healthcare facilities in several countries have reported that C. auris has caused severe illness in hospitalized patients. Some strains of Candida auris are resistant to all three major classes of antifungal drugs. This type of multidrug resistance has not been seen before in other species of Candida. Also of concern, C. auris can persist on surfaces in healthcare environments and spread between patients in healthcare facilities, unlike most other Candida species. CDC has developed Interim Recommendations(https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/candidiasis/recommendations.html) to help prevent the spread of C. auris.

C. auris is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods and can be misidentified in labs without specific technology. CDC encourages all U.S. laboratory staff who identify C. auris strains to notify their state or local public health authorities and CDC at candidaauris@cdc.gov. Find answers to frequently asked questions about C. auris on our questions and answers page(https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/candidiasis/candida-auris-qanda.html) and in the Candida auris: Interim Recommendations(https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/candidiasis/recommendations.html).

CDC is working with state and local health departments to identify and investigate cases of C. auris. The following map displays where C. auris cases have been identified in the United States as of April 13, 2017.

Data Table