A new gene, highly resistant to a last-resort class of antibiotics, has been identified in China. Doctors warn of the global implications the gene brings.

Dr. Ritu Banerjee, a Mayo Clinic paediatric infectious diseases expert said, "These genes could result in infections that are very difficult to treat in humans."

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The gene, called MCR-1, makes bacteria resistant to a member of the class of antibiotics known as polymyxins, which also gives the bugs the capacity to resist the drug colistin. It is an old drug that was rarely used for decades because of other antibiotic options that have fewer side effects.

MCR-1 can move among E.coli bacteria, but it can also go into other bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It was scientists from the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, the China Agricultural University in Beijing, and other institutions that called the resistance gene MCR-1.

They described the emergence of MCR-1 as "the breach of the last group of antibiotics" by plasmid-mediated resistance, in ther report, which has been published in the journal Lancet Infectious Disease.

In a Reuters article, the discovery is described as "alarming" by the scientists.

The researcher's findings emphasize the urgent need for coordinated global action. They are calling for urgent restrictions on the use of polymyxins, which are widely used in livestock farming.

"The fact that it has just been found in China it doesn't mean that we are safe from that here. International travel and global food supply networks mean that resistant bacteria anywhere in the world can be spread to the United States and to the world," said Dr. Banerjee.

According to the Tribune News Service, an expert at the US Centers for Disease Control said that if the resistance spreads, it will seriously limit the treatment options available to doctors facing antibiotic-resistant infections.

Tagsantibiotic-resistant superbugs, Last Resort Antibiotic, mcr-1, new antibiotic, Superbug Threatens Polymyxins