Superbug discovered in 2-year-old child

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published 9 September 2016

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported the fourth human case of an antibiotic-resistant superbug. The latest case was found in a 2-year-old in Connecticut, who may have contracted the superbug during a trip to the Caribbean in June. The child had a strain of E. coli that contained the gene mcr-1, which scientists have found to be resistant to the antibioitic colistin, which is the treatment administered as a last resort when patients aren't responding to other antibiotics.

Luckily, the girl's case proved treatable with drugs other than colistin, and health experts do not believe the germs were passed along to anyone else. Still, the case is alarming for health experts who have been carefully tracking the gene; if the gene spreads to other bacteria, scientists believe that it could eventually morph into a superbug invincible to all known antibiotics.