Indian Travel Boom Is Sending Tourists Home With Superbugs

Smallpox, syphilis, plague, cholera – some of the planet’s most notorious scourges dramatically expanded their reach thanks to unsuspecting travelers. With a record 3.77 billion air passengers worldwide last year, new disease-causing microbes have never traversed the planet faster.

The recent case in Reno, Nevada of a woman who died from a rare bacterial infection is a tragic reminder. She picked up a variant of a germ called Klebsiella pneumoniae, probably while she was treated in India for a leg fracture and hip infection, Washoe County health authorities said last week. Tests found the bacterium was resistant to 26 antibiotics. In fact, no available drug could stop it from poisoning her bloodstream weeks after she was admitted to the hospital in Nevada.