Deadly fungus is sweeping (UK) hospitals, leaked memo shows... horror illness is highly infectious and can lie dormant for years

By GABRIEL MILLARD-CLOTHIER, POLITICAL REPORTER

Published: 01:55 GMT, 9 November 2025 

The secret memo from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warns of ‘significant outbreaks’ of the highly infectious fungus, known as Candidozyma Auris.

Even with worrying ‘under-reporting’ of cases by the NHS, there has been an alarming rise. 

The ‘situational awareness update’ suggests the Health Service is currently underprepared for the potentially lethal disease

Case reporting

All confirmed C. auris specimens should be reported to state and local health departments and CDC at candidaauris@cdc.gov. Laboratories are encouraged to submit C. auris isolates to the Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Lab Network.

Candida auris: Epidemiology Update and a Review of Strategies 

to Prevent Spread

In theory, C. auris could exist at a deeper skin level rather than on the surface of the skin. 

This could explain why individuals colonized with C. auris test negative at one time point but positive at another time point.

 

Global antibiotic resistance surveillance report 2025: summary

13 October 2025

 | Executive summary 

DISCOVERY REPORT Gut fungi are associated with human genetic variation 

and disease risk 

Emily P. Van Syoc1,2*, Emily R. Davenport1,2, Seth R. Bordenstein 1,2,3* 1 One Health Microbiome Center, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 2 Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 3 Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America

 

Academic Editor: Jotham Suez, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 

MERICAReceived: March 28, 2025 Accepted: July 30, 2025 

      

Published: September 2, 2025

IMAGES: PLEOSPORA SP.  SKIN COLONIZATION / FOLLICULITIS 

The other black fungi: exploring the opportunists in the order Pleosporales

Sarah Ahmed - Ervin M Alcanzo - Qirui Li - Nadir Musa Abuzeid -Xin Zhou - Peiying Feng - Dea Garcia-Hermoso - Sybren de Hoog

 

"Additionally, deep-seated infections generally exhibit a predilection for immunocompromised hosts, but cases with cerebral dissemination are more common in immunocompetent individuals. "

Appeared online 25 March 2025

TYPE AND SITE OF INFECTIONS ATTRIBUTED TO PLEOSPORALES

A: Disease Type Distribution. B: Distribution of Infection Sites.

Fantastic yeasts and where to find them: the hidden diversity of dimorphic fungal pathogens

Marley C Caballero Van Dyke1, Marcus M Teixeira1,2, Bridget M Barker1 

1Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States 2Faculty of Medicine, University of Brasília, Brasília-DF, Brazil

Medical Professional Monograph LL-37 

Online first June 17, 2025

Olorofim for the treatment of invasive fungal diseases in patients with few or no therapeutic options: 

a single- arm, open-label, phase 2b study    

Antifungal activity of Miltefosine against both azole-susceptible and -resistant Aspergillus strains

Iman Haghania - Zahra Yahyazadeh - Mohammad Taghi Hedayati-Tahereh Shokohi - Hamid Badali - Shaghayegh Khojasteh - Javad Akhtari - Javad Javidnia - Maryam Moazeni - Ahmed Al-Harrasi - Seyed Reza Aghili - Firoozeh Kermani - Zohreh Hajheydari - Abdullah M.S. Al Hatmi - Mahdi Abastabar 

 

A fungus that can ‘eat you from the inside out’ could spread as the world heats up.

By Laura Paddison

*

Image 01: Content Provider: CDC/ Robert Simmons. Photo Credit:Janice Haney Carr / asexual stage Aspergillus sp. 

Image 02: Content Provider; CDC/ Dr. Libero Ajello / Aspergillus Flavus

 

Deadly fungus that 'eats you from the inside out' invades US: 'Hundreds of thousands of lives at risk'

By OSHEEN YADAV FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Pan-azole- and multi-fungicide-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus is widespread in the United States

Authors: B. N. Celia-Sanchez, B. Mangum, L. F. Gómez Londoño, C. Wang, B. Shuman, M. T. Brewer, M. Momany

Climate change-driven geographical shifts in Aspergillus species habitat and the implications for plant and human health

Norman van Rhijn 1, Christopher Uzzell 2, Jennifer Shelton 3

1 University of Manchester, 2 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, 3 UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

News Release 3-Jun-2025

Cannabis extract could treat fungal diseases

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Macquarie University’s Dr Hue Dinh, a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Natural Science, and Associate Professor Amy Cain, resolved to tackle the growing threat of fungal infections with help from Professor Mark Connor and Dr Marina Junqueira Santiago from the Macquarie School of Medicine and collaborators at the Universities of Sydney and NSW.

Writer: Bianca Nogrady

       UN PLEDGES TO CUT SUPERBUG DEATHS BY 2030           By Misbah Khan

   World Leaders Approve Milestone Commitment to Reduce Deaths 

                         from Antibiotic Resistance by 10% by 2030

                                          Antimicrobial Resistance 26/09/2024 • Elaine Ruth Fletcher

WORLDWIDE: TRICHOPHYTON INDOTINEAE

Trichophyton indotineae—An Emerging Pathogen Causing Recalcitrant Dermatophytoses in India and Worldwide—A Multidimensional Perspective.

Silke Uhrlaß, Shyam B. Verma, Yvonne Gräser, Ali Rezaei-Matehkolaei, Maryam Hatami, Martin Schaller, and Pietro Nenoff.†

Emmanuella Guenova, Academic Editor

 

In June 2024, the first case of sexually-transmitted Trichophyton mentagrophytes genotype VII in the United States was reported.

Superficial Fungal Infections and Implantation Mycoses: What’s New?

Jeremy Gold, MD, MS,  Shari Lipner, MD, PhD, Flavio Queiroz-Telles, MD, PhD, FCMM, Dallas Smith, PharmD

Are you aware of the recent emergence of resistant dermatophytosis in the United States? This includes the recent report of the first case of sexually-transmitted Trichophyton mentagrophytes Genotype VII (TMVII) in the United States.

Healthcare providers should be aware of emerging strains of dermatophytes causing severe ringworm.                                    Diagnosis often requires specialized testing only available at select reference laboratories. 

 

The silent pandemic: how drug-resistant superbugs risk becoming the world’s
number one killer

 

Highlights of the Didymellaceae: A polyphasic approach to characterise Phoma and related pleosporalean genera

M.M. Aveskamp, J. de Gruyter, H.C. Woudenberg, G.J.M. Verkley, and P.W. Crous

An almost completely unexplored habitat of Phoma spp. is the marine environment (Kohlmeyer & Volkmann-Kohlmeyer 1991),

in which Phoma species are regularly found that are completely new to science (e.g. Osterhage et al. 2000, Yarden et al. 2007).

 

IMAGES: CULTURE / PLEOSPORA SP.

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                  >Contig_1

ATCATTAAATACAGTAGATTTCTACTGATCGGGGGGGGTGGAAAGTCCCAGTTTGATTACTGGATCGCGAGTAAGCCCC
CTGTCTGCACCCTTGTCTTTTGCGTACTTATGTTTCCTCGGCGGGCTTGCCTGCCGAATGGACAATTCTAAAACCTTTT
TAATTTTCAATCAGCGTCTGAACAATTATAATAATTACAACTTTCAACAACGGATCTCTTGGTTCTGGCATCGATGAAG
AACGCAGCGAAATGCGATAAGTAGTGTGAATTGCAGAATTCAGTGAATCATCGAATCTTTGAACGCACATTGCGCCCCT
TGGTATTCCATGGGGCATGCCTGTTCGAGCGTCATTTGTACCCTCAAGCTATGCTTGGTGTTGGGTGTTTGTCCTCTCC
CTTGCGTTTGGACTCGCCTTAAAGAAATTGGCAGCCAGTGTATTGGTATAGAAGCGCAGCACAATTTGCGACTCTAGCT
AATAATTACTTGCAACCATCAAGTCTA


@ NCBI BLAST

 

Can’t quite develop that dangerous pathogen? AI may soon be able to help
By Allison Berke | November 7, 2023

Friend or foe? Washington is vexed by an uninvited visitor

AMR Exchange: Antifungal Resistance: Understanding this Growing Global Threat