The multidrug-resistant fungus Candida auris has disproportionately affected New York health care facilities, raising questions about its origins, whether it's here to stay and which health care facilities have been impacted by it.
There have been 319 confirmed cases and four probable ones statewide since the fungus, known as C. auris, was identified in New York two years ago. The four probable cases are undergoing further testing at Wadsworth Center, the state laboratory in Albany. More than 600 instances of the infection have been diagnosed nationwide.
The microbe can be carried on the bottom of shoes, clings to surfaces in hospital rooms, flourishes on floors, and adheres to patients' skin, phones and food trays, health officials said. It also is odorless and invisible.
