Take Action to Protect Patients and Residents Against Candida auris
This message is being sent to infection preventionists, local and Tribal health department staff, public health nurses, Local health officers, Tribal health directors, and Division of Quality Assurance: Notifications and Updates.
September 15–19 is Fungal Disease Awareness Week (FDAW), a national yearly observance that raises awareness of fungal diseases and shares ways to reduce their impact. Fungal diseases are increasing worldwide but are often misdiagnosed. This can lead to severe, potentially chronic illness, and sometimes death. In addition, misdiagnosed patients often receive antibiotics instead of the antifungals needed to treat fungal infections which can contribute to drug resistance.
For FDAW 2025, the Wisconsin HAI Prevention Program encourages public health and health care partners to take action to protect patients and residents against Candida auris (C. auris), a fungus that causes severe illness and spreads easily in health care settings.
Background information on C. auris and action steps for protecting patients and residents in health care facilities are included below.
About C. auris
C. auris is a fungus, specifically a yeast, that is often resistant to multiple antifungal drugs. Certain people are at higher risk for C. auris including those:
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Who have weakened immune systems or chronic health conditions.
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Who have received lots of antibiotics.
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Who require invasive medical devices (such as breathing or feeding tubes, urinary catheters, or central venous catheters).
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Who frequently receive health care.
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Who have a history of living in congregate settings.
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Who have received health care outside of Wisconsin or abroad.
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Increasing C. auris activity
Wisconsin is seeing increasing activity of reportable multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), including C. auris. Since C. auris was first detected in Wisconsin in1, cases have been identified in every public health region of the state As of August 18, 2025, 25 cases of C. auris have been detected this year.
| Year |
C. auris cases
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| 2025 |
25 |
| 2024 |
23 |
| 2023 |
21 |
| 2022 |
5 |
| 2021 |
1 |
| 2020 |
0 |
Data source: Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WEDSS)
*Cases are deduplicated and include both clinical and screening isolates.
Nationally, reported clinical cases of C. auris have increased significantly from 2019 to 2022, according to data recently updated by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Action steps for health care facilities
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Use appropriate precautions when working with patients and residents. All health care facilities must use standard precautions for all patient or resident care encounters.
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Hospitals are strongly encouraged to use contact precautions in addition to standard precautions when caring for patients who are colonized or infected with C. auris, or another targeted MDRO. If conducting colonization screening, the use of empiric contact precautions is recommended while screening results are pending.
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Nursing homes are now required to use enhanced barrier precautions (EBPs) in addition to standard precautions when:
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Caring for residents with chronic wounds or indwelling medical devices regardless of their MDRO status.
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Caring for residents who are colonized or infected with C. auris or another targeted MDRO when contact precautions do not otherwise apply.
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Follow proper cleaning and disinfection processes. Health care and environmental services personnel should consult disinfectants' manufacturer’s instructions for use for any kill claims, contact times, and concentration specifications. Refer to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) List P for products that are effective against C. auris.
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Whenever possible, use single-use, disposable, non-critical equipment or dedicate equipment for patients or residents colonized or infected with C. auris or another targeted MDRO. If this is not possible, disinfect shared medical equipment between patients or residents.
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Increase the frequency of cleaning, with additional focus on high-touch surfaces and the colonized or infected patient's or resident's room.
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Practice proper hand hygiene. Health care personnel should perform hand hygiene throughout their shift and after caring for colonized or infected patients or residents. Patients or residents who are colonized or infected with C. auris or another MDRO should be educated and encouraged to perform hand hygiene routinely.
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Communicate patients’ or residents’ MDRO status and history. The Wisconsin HAI Prevention Program’s health care facility transfer form can be used when transferring patients or residents to an admitting health care facility to communicate communicable disease status. Health care providers are also encouraged to flag a patient or resident’s electronic health record so that internal and external care providers can use proper precautions during health care encounters.
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A patient’s or resident’s MDRO status alone is not grounds to refuse their admission to a health care facility. For questions regarding patient or resident management and MDROs, please contact your regional infection preventionist.
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Utilize colonization screening to rapidly identify C. auris and other targeted MDROs. Colonization screening refers to the process of testing or screening someone for the presence of a specific MDRO.
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A health care facility may conduct response-driven screening after identifying a patient or resident who is infected or colonized with a targeted MDRO to determine if other patients or residents in the facility are also colonized. See frequently asked questions on MDRO colonization screening in health care facilities (also available in Spanish) for additional information.
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A health care facility may choose to conduct admission screening of patients or residents who have risk factors for C. auris or another targeted MDRO such as a history of hospitalization abroad or history of living in a congregate living setting, to identify MDROs at the time of admission.
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The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene offers fee-exempt colonization testing supplies to Wisconsin health care facilities. For more details on colonization screening, please email the Wisconsin HAI Prevention Program at DHSWIHAIPreventionProgram@dhs.wisconsin.gov.
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Implement an antimicrobial stewardship program. An effective antimicrobial stewardship program can help address the overarching problem of emerging drug resistance by reducing the overprescribing of antimicrobials. Learn more about stewardship programs based on care setting at, Antimicrobial Stewardship: Resources for Health Care Providers.
Department of Health Services resources
You can find additional information on FDAW and other fungal diseases on the CDC website.
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