CDC: 18 cases of ‘rapidly spreading fungus’ between Alabama and Georgia

(WRBL) — Alabama and Georgia are seeing over a dozen fungus cases that pose “an urgent antimicrobial resistance threat,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC says Candida auris, also known as C. auris, may pose a risk to those who are “very sick, have invasive medical devices, or have long or frequent stays in healthcare facilities.” C. auris is generally not a threat to healthy people, the CDC states.

According to the center, the fungus is an antimicrobial resistance threat due to it’s drug resistance nature, along with it’s ability to spread easily in healthcare facilities and “cause severe infections with high death rates.”

The center says the fungus was first detected in the U.S. in 2016, although it began to “spread at an alarming rate” in health care facilities between 2020 2021.

The CDC website reports Alabama currently has six cases while Georgia is facing 12. South of our viewing area, Florida reportedly has 349 cases.

Officials say more than 8,000 cases of the fungus were found across 28 states and D.C. by the end of 2022.

A chart of case numbers by state can be found below:

More information can be found on the CDC website.