World on cusp of post-antibiotic era | Page 5 | Emergency Preparedness | Forums

sadly true

KVR said
wonder how far it is going to spread

A top U.S. health official said Tuesday that it's likely more people will be found to be carrying a newly discovered superbug. The bacteria, found in the urine of a Pennsylvania woman, is resistant to antibiotics of last resort.

Beth Bell, a top expert on antibiotic resistance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also said officials investigating the Pennsylvania superbug case don't know how the strain of E. coli wound up in the woman's body. And they may never find out, she said.

The E. coli bacteria contained a gene, known as mcr-1, that makes it resistant to the antibiotic colistin, the drug used against particularly dangerous types of superbugs that can already withstand other antibiotics. In the short term, experts stress that there is no need to panic because the strain found in the woman is still treatable with other antibiotics. E. coli is common and is typically present in the human gut.

But the discovery has alarmed public health officials because it's the first time this colistin-resistant gene has been found in an individual in the United States. Over the long term, experts are worried that colistin resistance, which can spread easily to other bacteria through this gene, could lead to superbugs that could cause untreatable infections.

more https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/31/superbug-update-its-likely-we-will-find-more-of-these-cdc-says/  

well here is one way it can spread pretty far

Scientists have found dangerous drug-resistant "super bacteria" off beaches in Rio de Janeiro that will host Olympic swimming events and in a lagoon where rowing and canoe athletes will compete when the Games start on Aug. 5.

The findings from two unpublished academic studies seen by Reuters concern Rio's most popular spots for tourists and greatly increase the areas known to be infected by the microbes normally found only in hospitals.

They also heighten concerns that Rio's sewage-infested waterways are unsafe.

A study published in late 2014 had shown the presence of the super bacteria - classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an urgent public health threat - off one of the beaches in Guanabara Bay, where sailing and wind-surfing events will be held during the Games.

more http://www.reuters.c.....SKCN0YW2E8