A potentially dangerous deadly "superbug" has struck New Jersey, where hospitals are dealing with the second-highest rate of infection in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sixty-one cases of "Candida auris," a multi-drug-resistant fungus that is emerging globally, have been identified in New Jersey and elsewhere in the United States, according to the CDC.

New Jersey has had 17 cases, according to the N.J. Department of Health, second only to New York, which has had 39. The remaining states are Illinois, with 4; and Indiana, Maryland and Massachusetts, each with one. "It's acting like a superbug," said Paige Armstrong, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer. "Without appropriate infection control and really a rigorous response, [it] could lead to even more cases in the United States."

Armstrong said the increase in global cases and travel have likely had an impact on the United States, where cases have increased by more than 800 percent since the fall. But the CDC said it couldn't explain why New Jersey and New York have had the biggest impact. "It's a great question," said Sharon Tsay, also a CDC EIS officer, noting that the area is a major population center, which would increase the likelihood of the disease.

The fungus was first found in a man's ear in Japan in 2009, according to the CDC. All of the New Jersey patients have been hospitalized, according to the CDC. One New Jersey patient died in July 2015 after suffering from a brain tumor. The agency did not say where the New Jersey cases occurred.

In November, there were only seven cases total that were identified nationwide, two of which were in New Jersey, according to the CDC.

"We need to act now to better understand, contain and stop the spread of this drug-resistant fungus," CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a CDC release. "This is an emerging threat, and we need to protect vulnerable patients and others."



Candida auris grows as yeast, and symptoms include difficulty swallowing, burning, genital itching and sometimes a cheese-like discharge that looks white, according to the CDC. Neil Gaffin, an infectious disease specialist at the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, told CBS2 that the organism can be spread patient to patient, as well as via "environmental surfaces."