- An updated CDC report includes 19 pathogens whose threat levels range from “concerning” or “serious” to top-tier “urgent.”
- Clostridioides difficile slid from being an urgent threat to a serious threat, driven in part by successful infection prevention measures.
- Six pathogens made the agency’s watch list of potential threats, including drug-resistant dermatophytes and drug-resistant Haemophilus influenzae.
Candida auris, Acinetobacter, Enterobacterales, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae topped the CDC’s revised list of drug-resistant pathogens that threaten public health and demand aggressive action.
The CDC’s updated 2026 Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report outlined the nation’s most troubling infectious agents, including 19 pathogens whose threat levels range from “concerning” or “serious” to top-tier “urgent,” plus half a dozen that made the agency’s watch list of potential threats.
Taken together, the pathogens cause an estimated 9.7 million infections annually and 50,800 deaths, according to the agency.
“These numbers are alarming by any measure, but they are particularly sobering when infectious diseases physicians connect real patients with these statistics in their everyday experience,” cautioned Wendy Armstrong, MD, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, in a statement.
“Drug-resistant infections prolong hospital stays, drive up healthcare costs, and make it increasingly difficult — and sometimes impossible — for doctors to safely provide care like cancer chemotherapy, organ transplants, hip and knee replacements, and other medical care and surgeries,” she added.
The pathogen report’s newcomers and category movers include:
- Drug-resistant N. meningitidis, which emerged as a serious threat requiring prompt and sustained action
- Drug-resistant dermatophytes, which the CDC added to its watch list of emerging pathogens with an uncertain disease burden that could become a potential threat
- Drug-resistant Haemophilus influenzae, which also joined the CDC’s pathogen watch list
- Nontuberculous mycobacteria, another addition to the CDC’s watch list
- Clostridioides difficile, which slid from being an urgent threat to a serious threat, driven in part by successful infection prevention measures that have dropped case numbers since 2011
Armstrong called for the passage of the PASTEUR Act, which would create a federal program to develop antimicrobial drugs against the most threatening pathogens and infections. Both versions of the bill remain stalled in congressional committees.
America’s Top Pathogen Public Enemies
Four drug-resistant pathogens earned spots on the CDC’s top-tier “urgent threats” list:
C. auris, also known as Candidozyma auris, is an emerging, multidrug-resistant yeast that can cause severe, life-threatening infections, particularly in patients who already have serious medical conditions. The number of reported U.S. cases has jumped from 48 in 2016, when it was first reported, to 4,523 in 2023.
Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter can cause infections nearly anywhere in the body, and it’s a particular menace for patients in hospitals and nursing homes, where it spreads through contaminated surfaces and equipment. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter led to 9,497 U.S. hospitalizations in 2023, with most cases beginning outside the hospital (63%). The drug-resistant pathogen was responsible for an estimated 817 U.S. deaths that year.
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales include strains of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella. Patients on ventilators or with catheters, as well as those on longer antibiotics courses, face a greater risk of these infections, which have limited treatment options. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales fueled 14,878 hospitalizations in 2023, and the pathogen led to an estimated 1,252 deaths.
Drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae complicates treatment of the resulting sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea, increasing the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility, as well as acquiring and transmitting HIV. The FDA last year approved gepotidacin (Blujepa) and zoliflodacin (Nuzolvence) as the first new antibiotics for gonorrhea in decades. In 2023, drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae caused an estimated 787,000 infections in the U.S. Overall, 55.4% of gonorrhea cases in 2023 were either resistant to any of six antibiotics or showed elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations.
