[h=1]First documented U.S. case of E. Coli superbug[/h] May 31, 2016
by Pamela Tabar, Editor-in-Chief Researchers have reported the first U.S. documented case of a bacterial superstrain genetically hardwired to defeat attempts to kill it. The resistance gene, called mcr-1, was found in an
E. coli culture from a 49-year-old Pennsylvania patient with a urinary tract infection (UTI).
The gene causes the bacteria to resist colistin, a drug often reserved as a last resort antibacterial treatment for resistant infections, including Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter.
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The recent discovery of a plasmid-borne colistin resistance gene, mcr-1, heralds the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant bacteria. The gene has been found primarily in
Escherichia coli, but has also been identified in other members of the
Enterobacteriaceae from human, animal, food and environmental samples on every continent,? notes the
article published in
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal.
Of even greater concern is the involvement of resistance genes in the plasmids, a cell?s genetic replication engine.
If multiple-drug resistant genes take hold across the whole Enterobacteriacea family of bacteria, many of our current antibacterial treatments could fail in a hurry...
