FOR years experts have warned there would come a day when antibiotics would cease being effective.
And it seems that day could be sooner than first thought after scientists discovered a new superbug that is not just impervious to the last line of defence medication, but has the ability to infect other bacteria.
But instead of destroying its virulent cousins this new strain of e.coli actually strengthens them by giving them the same antibiotic shield.
The unstoppable superbug was first found in China a few weeks ago.
Chinese and British scientists identified the first strain in a pig, then in raw pork meat and then in a small number of people.
Experts, while worried about the potential effect this discovery would have, hoped it would remain in China.
But this week those hopes were dashed when researchers in Denmark revealed they had found a similar strain in poultry from Germany as well as in a Danish man who had never travelled outside the country.
The superbug has also been found in Malaysia.
Further tests carried out on food samples from 2012-2014 by the Technical University of Denmark's National Food Institute in Søborg and the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen, found the deadly mutation was present.
This sparked calls from the head of NFI's genomic epidemiology group, Frank Aarestrup, for other universities with similar databases to carry out testing, online health magazine STAT reported.
What makes this strain different from other e.coli is that it carries a gene named mcr-1.
It is thought this gene is what gives the strain its super-strength and the ability to infect other bacteria.
A poultry farm in Hefei, eastern China's Anhui province is being inspected after the discovery of a deadly and fast-spreading bacteria resistant to last-line antibiotics. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Dr Sanjaya Senanayake from ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment told news.com.au the Danish discovery was a real worry.
"It was a problem when we heard they were found in China a couple of weeks ago but one had hoped that it would just be in China and wouldn't spread too quickly but they have now found it in Denmark," he said. "These are very bad superbugs to have."
He explained while the risk to Australia was not as serious as other parts of the world, the rate at which the bacteria can spread, and how easily, could be devastating.
"We in Australia are a lot better off than other countries in terms of dealing with resistant bacteria but we are starting to see them come here," Dr Senanayake said. "The issue of course is Australians travel and when people travel and visit other countries, they drink the water, eat food, walk around and you pick up the local bacteria.
"A number of studies have shown that travellers going to countries that have resistant bacteria in them will often come back with those resistant bacteria sitting in their bowels. If it doesn't cause an infection then it's OK and usually after a few months they lose that bacteria. But if it does it can cause serious problems."
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