Tools for Detecting a "Superbug": Updates on Candida auris Testing.

Candida auris is an emerging yeast species that has the unique characteristics of patient skin colonization and rapid transmission within health care facilities and the ability to rapidly develop antifungal resistance. When C. auris first started to appear in clinical microbiology laboratories, it could be identified only by using DNA sequencing. In the decade since its first identification outside of Japan, there have been many improvements in the detection of C. auris. These include the expansion of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) databases to include C. auris, the development of both laboratory-developed tests and commercially available kits for its detection, and special CHROMagar for identification from laboratory specimens. Here we discuss the current tools and resources that are available for C. auris identification and detection.