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A strain of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" found in five individuals living in the Wellington area has been identified. However, his country of origin is still not clearly defined.
Microbiologist Kristin Dyet and her team at the Institute for Environmental Science and Research (ESR) were struggling to find the source of "worrying" microbes after their discovery in August by the Hutt Valley District Health Board.
Although they were able to identify the virus in question – Escherichia coli -, Dyet said that its source remained a mystery.
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Last month, the Hutt Valley District Health Council identified five carriers of carbapenam-producing enterobacteria (CPE), a family of bacteria that is resistant to almost all antibiotics.
"Most of the cases we encounter in New Zealand involve international travel.This particular group does not have it … This is not something we see every day.
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"It's a type of resistance that really worries us, so we want to make sure that it does not spread in the community."
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The strain of bugs is resistant to almost all antibiotics.
The ESR Antibiotic Reference Laboratory is responsible for national surveillance of antimicrobial resistance among human pathogens on behalf of the Ministry of Health.
The research team did not exclude that a person who had been abroad and who had been in contact with the five infected persons was at the origin of the strain, but could not be sure.
"Internationally, they find that sometimes people can be contaminated by the environment, but I do not think it's happening in New Zealand, so it's more likely that there's a source we are not aware of, "said Dyet.
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The case group seems to have originated in the community, but its foreign origin remains a mystery.
Even before the Wellington epidemic, ESR had asked laboratories across the country to send "absolutely all the isolates (samples)" they had available to expand and illuminate their research.
Escherichia coli has been found elsewhere in New Zealand. However, Mr. Dyet stated that these cases were traced to foreign origins.
In turn, the team would transmit its results to the laboratories, which would then pass them on to public health officials and DHBs.
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Good hand hygiene and other infection control practices, such as deep cleaning of surfaces and equipment, are effective ways to reduce the risk of spread.
Dyet said that although the Wellington area seems to have calmed down and that no new cases have been identified, the number of antibiotic resistant organisms was increasing.
However, Dyet was not out of her way to believe that her team was armed with the information she needed on the cluster in the event of a further rise in the Wellington area.
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