The CDC upped its case count Friday of the deadly emerging fungus Candida auris, increasing the number of total cases from 122 in May to 156.
Of those, 86 are clinical cases, based on specimens collected during the normal course of care. That's up from 77 such cases in May. C. auris has also been isolated from an additional 70 patients in healthcare facilities where clinical cases were found, bringing the total number of cases to 156.
The specimens were collected from May 2013 through May 2017.
C. auris has also spread geographically. In May, seven states reported C. auris cases (New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts and Oklahoma). Now, Florida has a C. auris case as well.
The CDC developed interim recommendations for healthcare organizations to prevent the spread of C. auris. Those can be found here.
The acting director of the CDC has labeled C. auris as a "catastrophic threat to society.