Mutant Superbug Has Been Discovered In The U.S.

The urinary tract infection sample in Pennsylvania was from a 49-year-old female patient who was being treated at a military facility. The plasmid passes along that gene – mcr-1 – making more of the bacterium in her body resistance to antibiotics. Tests found she had E. coli bacteria resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort.

USA health officials reported Thursday that they had discovered the first case in the country of a patient with an infection resistant to all known antibiotics.

Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with other kinds of bacteria that can’t be beaten with most antibiotics, and at least 23,000 people die each year as a result of those infections, according to the CDC. “It is a feeling of such horror and helplessness”, said Frieden.

In the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, investigators from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the Multidrug Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network (MRSN) reveal the first case of colistin resistance in the U.S.

“This is another piece of a really nasty puzzle that we didn’t want to see here”, said Beth Bell, a doctor to who oversees the CDC’s emerging infectious disease programs.

This strain of colistin-resistant E Coli was detected previous year in China and later in Europe, Africa and South America.

Researchers on this study have also reported that the CD and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have identified a swine intestinal infection with a single mcr-1 positive E. Coli strain. She had not traveled during the five months before her infection.

“In March, President Obama announced a national plan for combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria”, with a goal of cutting unnecessary antibiotics prescriptions by half by 2020.

Military officials reported the case Wednesday. Now that this strain of bacteria has been spotted in the United States, many are likely searching for more information on the bacteria, and the potential of it spreading.

Health officials fear the superbug’s resistance to the drug could be just the beginning.

The Cure – Antibiotic resistance: The end of modern medicine? “It is the end of the road for antibiotics if we don’t do something”.

Now, Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the CDC is urging scientists to develop new drugs before it’s too late.