Dangerous bacteria found after sewer spills

After a sewer line break, a strain of bacteria found in wastewater tested resistant to vancomycin, an antibiotic considered to be a ‘last resort’ treatment for serious infections that do not respond to other antibiotics. Researchers found that the vancomycin-resistant bacteria contains a gene capable of transferring vancomycin resistance to other strains of bacteria. Aging sewer infrastructure and increases in stormwater flooding with extreme rain events increases the likelihood of such spills.