SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean health authorities are reporting the country's first two cases of a new gene that makes bacteria resistant to most antibiotics.
Health official Lee Yeong-seon says experts detected the gene, known as NDM-1, in two people. The two patients have been hospitalized for a lengthy time and have not travelled abroad.
Lee works for the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She said Thursday that the gene appears to be circulating in 16 countries after being reported first in India. It alters bacteria, making them resistant to nearly all known antibiotics.
