LOC00:50
21:50 GMT
WASHINGTON, May 26 (KUNA) -- Health authorities in the US have found a person infected with a dangerous strain of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, CRE, for the first time, according to US reports.
"We may be in a situation where we have patients in our intensive-care units, or patients getting urinary tract infections for which we do not have antibiotics," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Tom Frieden told The Washington Post on Thursday.
The antibiotic-resistant strain was found in April upon analyzing the urine of a woman from Pennsylvania aged 49, the newspaper said, quoting a study by the American Society for Microbiology.
The CRE bacteria, or Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, which the report says kills "up to 50 percent of patients who become infected", has been described by the CDC as being amongst the country's most urgent public health threats.
The illness has been discovered in China and Europe, with US scientists and public health officials warning that if the resistant bacteria continues to spread, it could seriously limit available treatment options.
Based on the report, routine operations could become deadly, minor infections could become life-threatening crises and pneumonia could be more and more difficult to treat. (end)
sd.ibi