Superbug resistant to most powerful antibiotic ever FOUND in Arctic – could kill millions
A SUPERBUG bacteria that is capable of withstanding the world’s most powerful bacteria has been discovered in the “pristine” Arctic.
By Rachel O’Donoghue
DailyStar.co.uk
28th January 2019
Samples taken from soil in the Kongsfjorden region of Svalbard, Norway, were found to contain drug-resistant genes following testing.
These types of super-genes were first discovered in India in 2008 and were unheard of outside of clinical environments, such as hospitals.
Experts are now carefully watching whether the genes – called blaNDM-1 – could potentially spread around the world.
Because the bacteria is unaffected by the strongest antibiotics ever, called carbapenems, meaning a global spread of the bacteria could have devastating consequences.
But researchers at Newcastle University believe the bacteria didn’t organically grow in the untouched Arctic area.
Instead, they believe it may have come migrating birds’ droppings falling on the ice, or even humans who have ventured into the area.
David Graham, of Newcastle University, said: “Polar regions are among the last presumed pristine ecosystems on Earth.
“But less than three years after the first detection of the blaNDM-1 gene in the surface waters of urban India we are finding them thousands of miles away in an area where there has been minimal human impact.
“Encroachment into areas like the Arctic reinforces how rapid and far-reaching the spread of antibiotic resistance has become, confirming solutions to antibiotic resistance must be viewed in global rather than just local terms.”
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