‘A Real Disaster’: Surge in the spread of deadly superbug in NZ

Submitted by the Zombie Democracy Blog

48 New Zealanders test positive to carrying CPE superbug 

“Doctors are warning a powerful superbug could become deadly if it continues to spread in New Zealand at its present rate.

“So far this year, 48 New Zealanders have tested positive to carrying the bacteria known as carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae (CPE), up from 33 people last year. It was found in just 30 people in the six years from 2009 to 2014.

“CPE are bacteria that produce an enzyme that deactivates a powerful group of antibiotics called carbapenems, meaning they are difficult to treat.

“In most cases, the bug sits in the body, usually the bowel or gut, and causes no harm. But if it gets the bloodstream or urine it can be life threatening.”
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New Zealand’s cases of “flesh-eating” disease have surged by 300 percent since 1990

The astronomical rise in the necrotising fasciitis in New Zealand was revealed to scientists at the UK Health Protection Agency conference in Warwick, England.

The International Journal of Infectious Diseases has published a paper by Dr Dilip Das and others who identified necrotising fasciitis and cellulitis as emerging major health problems in New Zealand.

Late diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis in a 43-year-old male. Preoperative photograph on the day of admission. Extensive erythema and necrosis of the left leg. Source: Cases Journal. Image may be subject to copyright.

Das says the reasons for the meteoric rise in the number of NZ cases remain a mystery, “but the researchers had ruled out changes made in 2004 to the way diseases were recorded,” a report said.

See also: Viruses

Microorganisms with a threat level of SERIOUS. Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States 2013. Source: CDC

Related Links

• Global Health Alert  Bulletin #30 – New Zealand cases of “flesh-eating” disease have surged by 300 percent
• NZ Sees Surge in Flesh-Eating Disease Cases
• New super superbug surpasses MRSA infection rates in community hospitals
• “Flesh Eating Bacteria” Linked to NSAIDs
• Should We Be Afraid of MRSA?
• MRSA: ACT II
• Young dad Matthew Ramsay has undergone seven surgeries, including the amputation of four toes

Additional Links

• Superbugs Invasion Has Begun

• [First Phase of] Superbug Outbreak Could Kill 80,000 —UK Govt

• Double-Edged Swords: Man-Engineered Strains of Infectious Microbes 2

• FIRE-EARTH Alert: C. auris – Update 2
• Nature’s Deadly Arsenal of Diseases: Drug-Resistant Microbes 2 — GEID 052102
• Drug-Resistant ‘Japanese Fungus’ Spreads to 200 Patients in 55 UK Hospitals

• FIRE-EARTH Alert: Outbreak of Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella Heidelberg Infections

• Sudden worldwide increase in antibiotic-resistant bacterium