A bacteria resistant to an antibiotic used as a last resort has been detected in the United States, scientists announced on Thursday.

The first case in the United States was found in a 49-year-old woman from Pennsylvania. The patient was initially admitted because of a urinary tract infection. Tests results discovered she was infected with E. coli bacteria, which is commonly seen in the gut but descended its way to the bladder.  

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Furthermore, the test results also found she was resistant to the first-line of antibiotics commonly prescribed for such infection. She was thus given another kind. But during her recovery process, further testing found that the E. coli infecting her body was carrying a gene resistant to the drug colistin.

It has not been determined yet how the infection arrived in the US. The CDC and health officials from Pennsylvania are now investigating how and where the woman might have gotten the strain as she has not gone overseas recently.

Colistin, the antibiotic used, is usually taken when all other drugs fail because of its harsh side effects. Officials fear that unless health experts do something, the world is now nearing "the end of the road" for antibiotics.

Moreover, although the patient has recovered, experts worry that the resistance will proliferate in other bacteria. The mcr-1 gene, the DNA that makes bacteria colistin-resistant, can rapidly spread between species.

Experts now fear the bacteria will hook up with other antibiotic-resistant species and form an untreatable superbug. However, Dr. Beth Bell from the CDC said: "Luckily [we] haven't seen actual bacteria that are resistant to every single antibiotic."

TagsUnited States, antibiotics, bacteria, Colistin, CDC, mcr-1 gene, Last Resort Antibiotic