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Report: Dreaded Drug-Resistant Super Bug Hits U.S. for First Time
This 2006 colorized scanning electron micrograph image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the O157:H7 strain of the E. coli bacteria. On Wednesday, May 26, 2016, U.S. military officials reported the first U.S. human case of bacteria resistant to an antibiotic used as a last resort drug. The 49-year-old woman has recovered from an infection of E. coli resistant to colistin. But officials fear that if the resistance spreads to other bacteria, the country may soon see germs impervious to all antibiotics. (Janice Carr/CDC via AP)

Report: Dreaded Drug-Resistant Super Bug Hits U.S. for First Time

NEW YORK (AP) -- Officials are reporting the first U.S. human case of bacteria resistant to an antibiotic used as a last resort drug.

The 49-year-old woman has recovered. But officials fear that if the resistance spreads to other bacteria, the country may soon see germs impervious to all antibiotics.

The woman had gone to a military clinic in Pennsylvania for a urinary tract infection. Tests found she had E. coli bacteria resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort. She was successfully treated for the superbug with other antibiotics.

Bacteria resistant to the colistin have been found in other countries but not in people in the U.S. The woman had not traveled recently outside the country.

Military officials reported the case Wednesday.

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Jon Street

Jon Street

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