The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the deadly fungus outbreak has topped more than 3,000 Candida auris cases in 23 states so far this year. Texas, Michigan and Illinois reported the highest counts, giving hospitals and nursing homes a clearer picture of where screening pressure is building.
Texas had 706 cases as of July 18, Michigan had 503 and Illinois had 366. The national totals also rose from 2,882 cases in 2022 to 4,428 in 2023 and 6,197 in 2024, a climb that shows how quickly the fungus has moved through U.S. medical settings.
Susan Huang on U.S. spread
Susan Huang, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine, said the United States saw a doubling of positive screening cultures for Candida auris from 6,000 to 12,000 between 2022 and 2024. She also said, "The rapid emergence around the world and the speed of spread in the U.S. is alarming" and "The public should definitely be aware of this concern and how it may impact them or those they care about."
That rise matters most in acute care facilities, where most cases occurred, and in settings where people already have serious health problems. Candida auris can survive on surfaces for long periods of time before spreading to people in medical facilities through catheters, breathing tubes or IVs, so screening does more than count cases: it helps staff separate patients before the fungus moves through a ward.
William Schaffner and screening
William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, said, "[Candida auris]is known to rapidly spread in both hospitals and nursing homes, which is why many public health departments are working with these facilities to report cases and perform screening". Medical professionals should wear gowns and gloves when treating a person with Candida auris, and a person with Candida auris should be in a private room to avoid contact with other patients.
The complication is that most healthy people can recover from Candida auris on their own, even though some strains are resistant to all types of medications normally used to treat fungal infections. Researchers have estimated that 30–60% of people with Candida auris illnesses have died, and 88% of clinic cases of fungal infection were among people ages 45 and older, with the majority of cases in males.
Public health departments are already working with hospitals and nursing homes to report cases and perform screening, which puts the immediate focus on finding infections early rather than waiting for patients to worsen. The next pressure point is the same one that has driven the rise so far: which specific factors are driving the increase across the United States.
