Superbug resistant to antibiotics has potential to enter Aus

SYDNEY, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Entry of a superbug into Australia resistant to even the strongest antibiotics cannot be far off, according to an Australian expert.

It follows reports of a Pennsylvania woman in the U.S. who was found to be carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

According to the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, researchers reported that E. coli bacteria from an infection the woman was carrying, contained the mcr-1 gene.

The bacterium is resistant to colistin, cited as a last-ditch antibiotic.

Macquarie University Professor Michael Gillings said in a statement on Friday that while antibiotics have saved countless number of lives, many have abused them.

"Taking them when we don't need to, and using them as growth promoters in animals, bacteria have developed resistance," Gillings said.

"They do so by collecting genes for resistance. The more genes they collect, the more resistant they are."

He said that was why reports of spreading resistance to the antibiotic of last resort, colistin, were so worrying.