The diverse genomes of Candida auris

Abstract

Candida auris is an emerging global public health threat and is classified as a WHO critical priority fungal pathogen, causing invasive candidiasis with a crude mortality of 45%.1 The emergence, epidemiology, and evolution of C auris have been enigmatic, with multiple highly genetically distinct and clonal clades appearing simultaneously and even co-existing within single-hospital outbreaks.2 First described in Japan in 2008, following a case of otomycosis in a 70-year-old woman,3 C auris has now been identified in all major continents,4 with infection rates that have surpassed those of other Candida spp in lower-middle income settings.

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