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Rio Olympic waters found «superbacterium»

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A rare bacterium has been found in Rio de Janeiro's waters that can cause malaise, is extremely rare and very difficult to eradicate. This has caused concern among environmentalists, as the waters of the Brazilian city will host sailing competitions during the 2016 Olympic Games.

The Oswaldo Cruz Research Institute, which discovered «superbacterium» with the enzyme KPC (K. pneumoniae carbapenemase), also expressed concerns. « Diseases caused by such microorganisms are similar to those provoked by "normal" bacteria, but require stronger antibiotics to treat them. In addition, infected patients sometimes need to be treated as inpatients», says one of the scientists working there.

«Biologists warn that a person who has come into contact with the microbe may not become ill but risks taking» with him or her and passing it on to others.

Probably one of the reasons for the terrible epidemiological situation in Guanabara Bay is extreme water pollution - people and businesses dump household and industrial waste into the bay. The city authorities promised to solve this problem by the beginning of the Olympics and reduce the level of pollution by 80%, but now there are big doubts that the promise will be fulfilled.

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