ATLANTA — A new report from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that drug-resistant germs are becoming a growing threat in the United States, causing millions of infections and thousands of deaths each year.
The CDC’s 2026 report identifies 19 drug-resistant pathogens considered threats, including four classified as urgent.
According to the report, drug-resistant infections cause an estimated 9.7 million infections and more than 50,000 deaths annually in the United States.
Dr. Dawn Sievert with the CDC says three of the four urgent threats are associated with healthcare settings.
“Three of the four are healthcare related, and so these are infections that normally infect people who are in acute care hospitals or have interactions with healthcare settings,” Sievert said.
The fourth urgent threat involves drug-resistant gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted infection with a limited number of effective treatment options.
“And then the fourth Neisseria gonorrhoeae is obviously a sexually transmitted infection and so that is a community related infection,” Sievert said.
Sievert says the overuse of antibiotics and a lack of infection prevention measures contribute to the growing problem.
The CDC is encouraging Americans to practice good hygiene, properly care for infections and avoid using antibiotics unnecessarily.
“Everyone can play a role in preventing the spread of drug resistance in everyday actions that people already know about, and help prevent infections from happening in the first place,” Sievert said.
She also recommends keeping cuts clean and covered until they heal, managing chronic health conditions and taking antibiotics and antifungal medications only when necessary.
WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & Sabrina Cupit contributed to this story.
