Expressing support for the designation of the third week of September as "Fungal Disease Awareness Week" and encouraging efforts to improve awareness, diagnosis, treatment, surveillance, and prevention of fungal diseases in the United States.
Sponsored By: Representative Fong, Vince [R-CA-20]
Introduced
Summary
Fungal Disease Awareness would be designated each third week of September. The resolution would urge stronger public education, faster diagnosis and treatment, and improved surveillance and prevention of fungal infections.
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- Families and patients could get earlier recognition and testing for fungal illnesses. The resolution cites about 20,000 reported Valley Fever cases a year and 6,304 new clinical Candida auris cases in 2024.
- Clinicians and hospitals would be encouraged to consider fungal causes when treating pneumonia and to expand testing and antifungal susceptibility checks. The text warns fungal infections often mimic bacterial or viral pneumonia and can delay correct care.
- Public health agencies and researchers would face calls to boost surveillance, reporting, and interagency coordination and to support research into diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.
- Workers in affected industries would see more attention to occupational outbreaks after a 2023 blastomycosis event that identified 162 cases and about 20% prevalence among paper mill workers.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
More fungal disease awareness and care
This resolution would designate the third week of September as Fungal Disease Awareness Week and ask agencies and partners to expand public education. It would encourage CDC, state, Tribal, territorial, and local health departments, health care providers, and patient groups to improve awareness, testing, diagnosis, and patient-centered care for many fungal diseases, including Valley Fever, histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, aspergillosis, mucormycosis, fungal meningitis, severe ringworm, candidiasis, and Candida auris. It would urge clinicians to 'think fungus' for pneumonia-like or unexplained illness that does not improve. The resolution would support research on better tests, treatments, vaccines, and prevention but would be nonbinding and would not provide funding.
Stronger readiness for fungal outbreaks
This resolution would encourage stronger public health readiness and coordination for fungal outbreaks. It would urge improvements in outbreak investigation, laboratory testing capacity, clinician alerts, occupational and environmental risk communication, and coordination across local, State, Tribal, territorial, and Federal agencies. It would recognize Candida auris as an urgent healthcare threat and call for early detection, appropriate screening, infection prevention and control, environmental disinfection, interfacility communication, and antifungal resistance monitoring. The resolution would be nonbinding and would not itself appropriate funds or create new legal duties.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Fong, Vince [R-CA-20]
CA • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Valadao, David G. [R-CA-22]
CA • R
Sponsored 9/17/2026
Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-41]
CA • R
Sponsored 9/17/2026
Rep. Kim, Young [R-CA-40]
CA • R
Sponsored 9/17/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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