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The CDC’s updated 2026 Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report estimates that the pathogens it tracks cause 9.7 million infections and 50,800 deaths in the United States annually. Four drug-resistant pathogens are classified as urgent threats, while six others are on a watch list; the report also moves C. difficile from urgent to serious.
The CDC’s 2026 Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report estimates that the pathogens it tracks cause 9.7 million infections and 50,800 deaths in the United States each year. The agency classifies four drug-resistant pathogens as urgent threats, while adding emerging organisms to a watch list and lowering Clostridioides difficile from urgent to serious.
The four urgent drug-resistant threats named in the report are Candida auris, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The CDC says its threat categories span concerning, serious and urgent levels, with six additional pathogens placed on a watch list because they could become threats.
The report describes C. auris as a multidrug-resistant yeast that can cause severe infections, especially among people already seriously ill. Reported U.S. cases rose from 48 in 2016 to 4,523 in 2023. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter was associated with 9,497 U.S. hospitalizations and an estimated 817 deaths in 2023; 63% of those cases began outside hospitals, according to the source report.
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales, which include some E. coli and Klebsiella strains, were linked to 14,878 hospitalizations and an estimated 1,252 deaths in 2023. Drug-resistant gonorrhea can make treatment more difficult. The report estimates 787,000 U.S. infections caused by drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae in 2023 and says 55.4% of gonorrhea cases that year were resistant to at least one of six antibiotics or showed elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations.
How Resistance Affects Patient Care
The report’s national estimates signal a substantial burden from infections that may be harder to treat when standard antibiotics are ineffective. The CDC figures combine multiple pathogens and are not a count of deaths caused only by the four organisms in the urgent category. That distinction matters: the 50,800 annual deaths figure refers to the pathogens covered by the report as a whole.
Drug-resistant infections can also affect care beyond the infection itself. Wendy Armstrong, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said they can prolong hospital stays and increase costs. She warned they may make it harder for clinicians to safely provide treatments such as chemotherapy, organ transplants and surgery. These are consequences described by Armstrong, not a separate estimate of harm in the CDC report.
Resistance in gonorrhea also raises public-health concerns because treatment difficulty can increase risks linked to untreated infection, including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility. The report’s figures give health officials and clinicians a basis for tracking where prevention and new treatment options may be needed.
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Changes in the CDC Threat List
The updated report does not treat every organism as equally dangerous. The CDC assigns pathogens to threat categories and separately tracks potential concerns. Drug-resistant Neisseria meningitidis was added at the serious level, while drug-resistant dermatophytes, drug-resistant Haemophilus influenzae and nontuberculous mycobacteria joined the watch list, along with other potential threats.
C. difficile moved from urgent to serious. The source report says its case numbers have declined since 2011, driven in part by successful infection-prevention measures. The change in category is not a claim that the organism poses no risk; it reflects the agency’s revised assessment of its threat level.
Some of the report’s pathogen-specific numbers use 2023 data, while its overall estimate describes annual infections and deaths. For gonorrhea, the Food and Drug Administration approved gepotidacin and zoliflodacin in 2025 as new antibiotics, according to the source material. Those approvals add treatment options, but the report’s resistance findings show the continuing challenge of keeping therapies effective.
“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.”
— Wendy Armstrong, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Limits of the Report’s Estimates
The supplied report summary does not detail the methods behind the 9.7 million infections and 50,800 deaths estimates, including how uncertainty ranges were calculated or how much each pathogen contributed to the combined totals. It also does not provide comparable year-by-year figures for every organism, so the overall numbers alone cannot show whether the total burden is rising or falling.
The watch-list organisms are described as possible future threats with uncertain disease burdens. Their inclusion does not establish how many infections or deaths they currently cause. The report summary also does not give further details on the six watch-list pathogens beyond the named additions.
Policy and Surveillance Ahead
Armstrong urged Congress to pass the PASTEUR Act, which would create a federal program to support development of antimicrobial drugs for the most threatening pathogens and infections. The two versions of the bill remain stalled in congressional committees, according to the source report. No passage date or next legislative action is specified.
For now, the report provides an updated list for public-health and health-care teams to use in tracking resistance and considering prevention priorities. Further detail on the CDC’s methods, future surveillance findings and the status of the legislation could clarify how the estimates change over time and what steps follow.
Key Questions
What does the CDC estimate about the annual toll?
The report estimates that the pathogens it tracks cause 9.7 million infections and 50,800 deaths in the United States annually. The figures cover the report’s pathogens collectively, not just the four urgent drug-resistant threats.
Which pathogens are classified as urgent threats?
The four named urgent drug-resistant pathogens are Candida auris, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Why did C. difficile move to a lower category?
The report reclassified C. difficile from urgent to serious. Its summary says case numbers have declined since 2011, in part because of successful infection-prevention measures. The change does not mean the infection is no longer a concern.
What is the PASTEUR Act?
As described in the source report, the proposed act would establish a federal program to support development of antimicrobial drugs targeting high-priority pathogens and infections. Both versions remain stalled in congressional committees.
Source: medpagetoday.com
