While the world has been focused on familiar health battles, another enemy has been quietly spreading across hospitals and nursing homes in America.
A dangerous “superbug” that resists nearly every available antibiotic is now spreading faster than ever, and experts warn it could undo years of progress in the fight against drug-resistant infections.
The Superbug Doctors Fear Most
This superbug is called NDM-producing CRE, sometimes referred to as “nightmare bacteria.”
It can cause life-threatening infections like pneumonia, severe urinary tract infections, and bloodstream infections that are almost impossible to treat.
What makes it especially concerning is its ability to withstand even the strongest antibiotics available today.
Since 2019, infections have climbed sharply—overall cases of CRE rose by 18 percent, but the most dangerous strain, NDM-CRE, has exploded with a staggering 461 percent increase.
Why It’s So Difficult to Stop
One of the biggest challenges with NDM-CRE is that many hospitals don’t have the specialized testing needed to identify it quickly.
That means patients often don’t get the right treatment in time, and the bacteria spreads under the radar.
According to Danielle Rankin, an epidemiologist with the CDC, this makes choosing the right therapy more complicated than ever.
Without rapid testing, doctors are left fighting blind.
How Bacteria Outsmart Antibiotics
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) include common bacteria like E. coli and Klebsiella, which normally live in the human gut without causing trouble.
But over time, they’ve developed powerful defenses. The NDM gene acts like a shield, protecting them from even last-resort antibiotics.
The problem is made worse because bacteria can easily pass these resistance genes to one another—spreading resistance not just within one strain but across multiple types of bacteria.
A Crisis Fueled by Human Behavior
Experts believe this resistance didn’t appear out of nowhere.
The overuse and misuse of antibiotics in both medicine and agriculture created evolutionary pressure that allowed only the strongest, drug-resistant bacteria to survive.
Now, those bacteria are thriving in healthcare facilities where vulnerable patients, already weakened by illness, become easy targets.
How the Infection Spreads
NDM-CRE doesn’t spread through the air like a cold.
Instead, it’s passed through contact—contaminated hands of healthcare workers, shared medical equipment, or even from patient to patient.
For someone with a strong immune system, it may not cause problems.
But for patients in hospitals or nursing homes, the risk is enormous.
Symptoms That Signal Trouble
The symptoms depend on where the infection takes hold.
In the lungs, it can cause pneumonia, with fever, cough, and breathing difficulties.
In the urinary tract, it causes painful, frequent urination and fever.
If it reaches the bloodstream, it can trigger sepsis—marked by dangerously low blood pressure, confusion, high fever, and even death.
A Numbers Game That Looks Alarming
Data from public health tracking shows the superbug is spreading faster than scientists had feared.
Between 2019 and 2023, CRE infections jumped 18 percent nationwide. But the specific, nearly untreatable NDM strain surged by 461 percent.
Even another strain of Klebsiella bacteria resistant to treatment has risen 50 percent, establishing a stronger foothold in U.S. hospitals.
What’s worse, many states—including California, Florida, New York, and Texas—were not included in the study, meaning the real numbers are probably much higher.
Why Doctors Are Running Out of Options
For years, the most common resistance gene in the U.S. was KPC, which doctors had learned how to treat.
But since 2019, NDM has taken the lead, spreading especially in E. coli.
Unlike other forms, NDM-CRE is resistant to even the newest drugs designed to treat tough infections.
This leaves physicians with fewer and fewer ways to help patients.
A Warning for the Future
The CDC estimates that more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur each year in the U.S., leading to over 35,000 deaths.
The growing diversity of resistance genes means treatments must be tailored to each specific type—but testing remains limited and often too slow to help doctors make timely decisions.
The message from researchers is clear: without urgent investment in testing, monitoring, and smarter use of antibiotics, this silent surge of superbugs could become the next major health crisis.