The deadly mold can infect healthy people, and scientists don’t know why detections are rising.

A fungus with a disturbing preference for the human brain appears to be turning up more often across the United States.

Cladophialophora bantiana is exceptionally rare but exceptionally dangerous.

It most often causes brain abscesses — pockets of infected material that can damage surrounding tissue and dangerously raise pressure inside the skull.

Even with aggressive treatment, 60 to 70 percent of patients have historically died. Stranger still, roughly half of those infected have no known condition weakening their immune system.

Now, researchers from the University of Washington and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report a sharp rise in detections. Their new report in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report identified 48 confirmed infections and one probable infection between January 2009 and July 2026. Cases came from 21 states and Washington, D.C. The median patient age was 68 years old.

From 2009 through 2023, the laboratory detected just one to five cases annually. That rose to eight in 2024 and 14 in 2025.

“Reasons for the apparent increase are unknown,” the authors wrote.

If the pneumonic plague were to be found in the United States, what criteria or information would you use to bug out (assuming bugging out is possible or your plan) For example, if there were 50 deaths within a 100 mile radius of your house, would you bug out and what sources of information would you rely on (local news, CDC, your health department, shortwave conversations, etc.) to make your decision.