Drug-Resistant Candida auris Reaches 26 States, CDC Data Shows

A drug-resistant fungal infection that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled an urgent antimicrobial resistance threat is continuing to spread through American health care facilities in 2026, with new federal tracking data showing the scope is wider than ever.

According to CDC figures reviewed by U.S. News and World Report, as of July 25, 2026, there have been 3,437 reported cases of Candida auris across 26 states. That's a national footprint that now reaches every major U.S. region. Texas is carrying the heaviest burden, with more than 700 confirmed cases through mid-July, followed by Michigan and Illinois.

For context on how fast this has moved: the fungus was first reported in the U.S. in 2016 with just 48 clinical cases. The CDC recorded 6,304 clinical cases in 2024. The agency has noted that the rate of increase has slowed somewhat in recent years, but the raw case count keeps climbing.

What makes C. auris particularly worrying in a hospital setting is who it hits and how it spreads. The people most at risk aren't the generally healthy. They're patients who are already sick, who have central lines, urinary catheters, or breathing tubes, and who are in acute or long-term care. A recent review of cases from 2022 through 2024 found that about 88 percent of clinical infections were in adults over 45, with most patients in acute care at the time of diagnosis.

The fungus doesn't need a direct patient-to-patient handoff to move. It can survive on bedrails, doorknobs, and other surfaces in health care facilities, and not all standard disinfectants will kill it. The CDC has flagged that colonized patients, meaning those who carry the fungus without showing symptoms, can still transmit it to others. That's what makes outbreak containment so hard: you can't always tell by looking at a patient, or a room, that C. auris is present.

Some strains are resistant to all three main classes of antifungal medications. Epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists have been particularly concerned about growing resistance to echinocandins, which are the first-line antifungal drugs recommended for C. auris treatment. When those fail, clinicians have very few options left.

The CDC advises that active screening is the critical intervention, because identifying colonized patients early is the only way to get ahead of nosocomial spread. Recommended steps include placing infected patients in single-occupancy rooms, using special disinfectants with documented efficacy against the fungus, and strict hand hygiene throughout the care team.

Arizona, for its part, recorded 171 cases year-to-date in 2026, up nearly 30 percent from the same period in 2025, according to data reported by azfamily.com.

For clinicians on inpatient units, this is a practical problem that doesn't look exotic at first glance. Patients with C. auris infections often present with the same constellation of signs as a bacterial bloodstream infection. When broad-spectrum antibiotics don't turn things around, the possibility of a drug-resistant fungal infection has to enter the differential. Specialized cultures and molecular tests are required to confirm it.

The CDC has not declared an outbreak, but the trajectory of cases across more than half of U.S. states this year makes clear that C. auris is no longer a regional concern.

Sources cited:
- U.S. News and World Report (https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2026-08-06/what-is-candida-auris-and-where-is-the-deadly-fungus-spreading)
- WDBJ7 / CDC tracking data (https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/08/06/superbug-fungus-has-spread-half-us-should-you-be-concerned/)
- Newsweek (https://www.newsweek.com/map-candida-auris-fungus-outbreak-12287657)
- KDVR / Nexstar (https://kdvr.com/news/nationalworld-news/superbug-confirmed-in-23-states-where-is-the-deadly-fungus-spreading-in-2026/)
- AZFamily (https://www.azfamily.com/2026/08/07/arizona-sees-surge-superbug-fungus-cases-cdc-data-shows/)