World on cusp of 'post-antibiotic era'

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   This might be as big, or bigger, than a flu pandemic, although it might not sweep through the world so fast.  

 BBC wrote:

The world is on the cusp of a "post-antibiotic era", scientists have 
warned after finding bacteria resistant to drugs used when all other 
treatments have failed.

And guess where it developed....

 BBC wrote:

Their report, in the Lancet, identifies bacteria able to shrug off colistin in patients and livestock in China. 
They said that resistance would spread around the world and raised the spectre of untreatable infections. 
.......
Bacteria becoming completely resistant to treatment - also known as the antibiotic apocalypse - could plunge medicine back into the dark ages.
Common
 infections would kill once again, while surgery and cancer therapies, 
which are reliant on antibiotics, would be under threat.
Chinese scientists identified a new mutation, dubbed the MCR-1 gene, that prevented colistin from killing bacteria. 
It was found in a fifth of animals tested, 15% of raw meat samples and in 16 patients. 

                                                                                                    And the resistance had spread between a range of bacterial strains and species, including E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 
There is also evidence that it has spread to Laos and Malaysia.
Prof
 Timothy Walsh, who collaborated on the study, from the University of 
Cardiff, told the BBC News website: "All the key players are now in 
place to make the post-antibiotic world a reality.
"If MRC-1 
becomes global, which is a case of when not if, and the gene aligns 
itself with other antibiotic resistance genes, which is inevitable, then
 we will have very likely reached the start of the post-antibiotic era.
"At that point if a patient is seriously ill, say with E. coli, then there is virtually nothing you can do."

Resistance to colistin has emerged before. 
However, the crucial difference this time is the mutation has arisen in a way that is very easily shared between bacteria.
"The
 transfer rate of this resistance gene is ridiculously high, that 
doesn't look good," said Prof Mark Wilcox, from Leeds Teaching Hospitals
 NHS Trust.
His hospital is now dealing with multiple cases "where
 we're struggling to find an antibiotic" every month - an event he 
describes as being as "rare as hens' teeth" five years ago.
He 
said there was no single event that would mark the start of the 
antibiotic apocalypse, but it was clear "we're losing the battle".
'Untreatable'
The
 concern is that the new resistance gene will hook up with others 
plaguing hospitals, leading to bacteria resistant to all treatment - 
what is known as pan-resistance.
Prof Wilcox told the BBC News website: "Do I fear we'll get to an untreatable organism situation? Ultimately yes. 
"Whether that happens this year, or next year, or the year after, it's very hard to say."
....A commentary 
in the Lancet concluded the "implications [of this study] are enormous" 
and unless something significant changes, doctors would "face increasing
 numbers of patients for whom we will need to say, 'Sorry, there is 
nothing I can do to cure your infection.'"

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34857015

World on cusp of 'post-antibiotic era'

'Untreatable'

For a more detailed view see:

Analysis: Antibiotic apocalypse