CDC Invasive Mold Disease Surveillance 

 

CATEGORY:

Public Health, Federal Government

CLIENT:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases

PROGRAM:

Georgia Emerging Infections Program (EIP) — Active Surveillance for Invasive Mold Disease

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

2020–2024

Overview

PVM supported a large, CDC-led public health surveillance effort tracking invasive mold disease (IMD) across four Atlanta-area hospitals and their outpatient clinics. IMD is not a nationally notifiable condition, making systematic, laboratory-based surveillance essential to identifying cases, characterizing risk, and detecting health care–associated outbreaks. Findings from this work were published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Surveillance Summaries (Vol. 75, No. 5, July 2026), with PVM team members Brian Jester, Eddie Mata, and Hannah Zenas named as co-authors.

PVM's Role

PVM contributed to a multi-institutional team spanning CDC, the Georgia EIP, Emory University School of Medicine, and the Atlanta VA Medical Center, supporting the surveillance infrastructure and analysis behind one of the most comprehensive active IMD datasets published to date.

Impact

The resulting study reviewed 968 potential cases, confirmed 449 as invasive mold disease, and established benchmark incidence and mortality data — including a 90-day mortality rate of 45% — that CDC and health care systems can use to distinguish sporadic infections from emerging outbreaks going forward. The report also identified that over a third of confirmed cases occurred in patients without classic risk factors, informing future clinical and surveillance guidance.

Relevant Capabilities Demonstrated

  • Public health surveillance support
  • Epidemiological data analysis
  • Collaboration within large, federally-led, multi-institutional research teams
  • Contribution to peer-reviewed public health publications

Publication: Sajewski ET, Mackey C, Thomas S, et al. Active Surveillance for Invasive Mold Disease — Four Hospitals, Atlanta, Georgia, 2020–2024. MMWR Surveill Summ 2026;75(SS-5):1–19. Read the full report