“It was tested against everything that’s available in the United States … and was not effective,” Dr Alexander Kallen, one of the report’s authors told Stat, the health news website which first reported on the discovery of the superbug.
“I think it’s concerning. We have relied for so long on just newer and newer antibiotics. But obviously the bugs can often [develop resistance] faster than we can make new ones,” he added.
The sample sent to the CDC was found to contain New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM), an enzyme that makes bacteria resistant to many antibiotics.