Health officials warn of fungus ‘superbug’ outbreaks in Dallas, DC

Health officials are warning of a fungus “superbug” outbreak in Dallas and Washington, D.C., that seem to be resistant to treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday there were outbreaks of the Candida auris fungus in a nursing home in D.C. and two hospitals in Dallas, The Associated Press reported.

Three cases in D.C. and two cases in Dallas were resistant to all three major classes of medication.

Both the patients in Dallas who had cases resistant to medicine died, and one patient in D.C. died from a similar case.

“This is really the first time we’ve started seeing clustering of resistance” and patients getting infected from each other, CDC medical officer Meghan Lyman said, according to the AP.

The cases were seen from January to April, and investigators found the fungus was spread from person to person.

There have been more cases since April and the outbreak is still ongoing, according to the CDC, but the cases have not been reported yet.

The fungus has been known for years, but evidence that it can spread from person to person is new. 

The Hill has reached out to the CDC for comment.