Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday urged the federal government to designate a multi-drug-resistant superbug an emergency so millions more in funds can be made available to New York where hundreds of cases have already been reported.
“When it comes to the superbug, New York could use a little more help with a SWAT team,” Schumer said during a news conference in his Manhattan office.
“The fungus is a superbug and it’s called Candida auris. It looks spooky and it is. It’s a fungus that has no cure and it’s resistant,” he added. “So far there have been more cases reported in New York than anywhere else.”
There are 319 cases of Candida auris in New York, which is more than half of the 613 confirmed cases in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control reported on April 30.
“The CDC has the power to declare this an emergency and automatically get us the resources we need. We’re here to [say to] the CDC help us stop this bug before it spreads,” said Schumer.
Emergencies have been declared before for viruses like Zika and Ebola, the senator noted.
“We’re here to say, now more than ever, with something as deadly as Candida auris, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure,” Schumer said, adding that it can quickly spread in healthcare and nursing home facilities.
The fungus, first discovered in 2009, has infected people in more than a dozen countries worldwide.
Schumer said there’s already money in the CDC budget since he got the organization additional $1.08 billion recently.
”They’ve already awarded New York $6 million, that’s not close to enough. They’ve sent a CDC expert to the state. That is not enough. By declaring the emergency, we could get the dollars we need,” Schumer said.
The additional funds could be used to boost state and local testing, to invest in rapid detection technology and to develop an education campaign so that people are aware of the bug’s symptoms.
