CDC: Transmission of Multidrug-Resistant Fungus May Have Occurred at U.S. Healthcare Facilities

​An investigation into Candida auris, an emerging multidrug-resistant fungus, showed that transmission may have occurred at U.S. healthcare facilities, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the November 4, 2016, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. C. auris (see June 29, 2016, HRC Alerts), which has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings internationally, is challenging to identify and is often mistakenly identified as other types of yeast. Seven cases were reported in four states between May 2013 and August 2016, and only one of those patients had recently traveled internationally. As of August 31, 2016, four of the seven patients, all of whom had bloodstream infections, died during the time following the identification of C. auris.