LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Nineteen pathogens cause an estimated 9.7 million infections and 50,800 deaths in the United States each year, according to an updated report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday.
The 2026 Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report is the CDC's most comprehensive estimate to date of the impact of drug-resistant bacteria and fungi, as well as Clostridioides difficile, the CDC said.
The report classifies 19 pathogens according to their threat to public health in the United States: four as urgent threats, 13 as serious threats and two as concerning threats.
The four urgent threats are Candida auris (C. auris), carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales, and drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the report said.
Drug-resistant C. auris infections have increased tenfold since 2019, and some strains are resistant to available classes of antifungal drugs, according to the report.
The report also highlighted the rapid spread of resistance genes, which can make infections harder to treat and more deadly.
"Antimicrobial resistance threatens modern medicine and puts millions of Americans at risk every year," CDC Director Erica Schwartz was quoted as saying by U.S. media outlets. "High-quality data help drive action, and CDC is committed to providing easily accessible information to help protect people from drug-resistant infections."
