Widespread E-coli bacteria that cannot be killed with the antibiotic drug of last resort — colistin — have been found in samples taken from farm pigs, meat products, and a small number of patients in south China, including bacterial strains with epidemic potential, an international team of scientists revealed in a paper published Thursday Nov. 19 in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The scientists in China, England, and the U.S. found a new gene, MCR-1, carried in E-coli bacteria strain SHP45. MCR-1 enables bacteria to be highly resistant to colistin and other polymyxins drugs.

“The emergence of the MCR-1 gene in China heralds a disturbing breach of the last group of antibiotics — polymixins — and an end to our last line of defense against infection,” said Professor Timothy Walsh, from the Cardiff University School of Medicine, who collaborated on this research with scientists from South China Agricultural University.

Walsh, an expert in antibiotic resistance, is best known for his discovery in 2011 of the NDM-1 disease-causing antibiotic-resistant superbug in New Delhi’s drinking water supply. “The rapid spread of similar antibiotic-resistant genes such as NDM-1 suggests that all antibiotics will soon be futile in the face of previously treatable gram-negative bacterial infections such as E.coli and salmonella,” he said.

Eoin Treacy's view

Countries with sparse GP coverage tend to have some of the most lax approaches to accessing what are normally prescription medications. With no doctor in one’s vicinity or with little money to go see one, people tend to self-medicate. They are interested in results so the most effective solutions are preferred. This means drugs which are difficult to procure in highly developed countries can be found with relative ease in underdeveloped countries. Since these are countries where people and animals tend to live in close proximity and where sanitation is less than optimal, the potential for microbes to become exposed and quickly immune to even our best solutions accelerates. 

Technological innovation is progressing quickly but in the field of combatting bacterial infection it is now a necessity rather than a desire. The problem is that the medical system as it now stands is dependent on antibiotics as a matter of course. To integrate a different system, such as using phages, would be expensive so it is in everyone’s interest that the range of additional solutions keeps pace with the ability of bacteria to mutate. 

At best this will continue to be a non-issue because of global cooperation to combat the threat. The more likely scenario is we will probably have more irradiated food and will have to ensure meats are cooked thoroughly. However as long as awareness of these issues continues to make headlines, the potential for a worst case scenario will likely be avoided. This article from the Salk Institute highlights an example of some of the work that is being done to target these types of issues.