If you thought methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was bad news for horses and their human connections, there’s something even uglier you might want to learn about. There’s a new "superbug" in town, and although it hasn’t yet infected horses, it isn’t to be taken lightly.

New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) is an enzyme capable of neutralizing antibiotics. Researchers have found this enzyme can neutralize not only most beta-lactam antibiotics (such as penicillin), but also some "big-gun" antibiotics (such as imipenem), which are sometimes used to treat drug-resistant infections.

Bacteria that produce NDM-1 include members of the Enterobacteriaceae family (such as Escherichia coli). These bacteria produce NDM-1 and therefore are likely resistant to multiple antibiotics, and the NDM-1 gene appears to be easily transferred to other members of the Enterobacteriaceae family.

Since the first human case was diagnosed in 2009, NDM-1-producing Enterobacteriaceae have been found in the United States, Canada, France, Japan, and Australia, among other locations