PressTV... Brazilian researchers have discovered a drug-resistant “super-bacteria” residing in a polluted bay where the 2016 Olympics sailing events will be held.
According to a research by the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, the bacteria was found in three locations of the Carioca River, which after running through the city of Rio, pours into Guanabara Bay.
Contact with the bacteria could lead to serious infections that may result in hospitalization, said study leader Ana Paula d'Alincourt.
"You could get sick, but no more so than from other microorganisms. The problem is that if someone is infected, it's possible the treatment would require hospitalization and antibiotics that are no longer used because they are toxic to the body," she said.
The bacteria, which can cause gastrointestinal, urinary and pulmonary infections, produces an enzyme which is resistant to general antibiotics and is usually found in hospital waste.
One of the samples was located close to the river’s entry point into the bay on Flamengo beach, close to where the sailing and windsurfing events are to be held.
Around 70 percent of the city’s waste, including sewage, dead animals, television sets, sofas, shoes, ends up in the bay.
As part of its Olympic bid, Brazil promised to reduce pollution in Guanabara Bay by 80 percent, but in June Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes admitted the vow could not be fulfilled.
"I am sorry that we did not use the games to get Guanabara Bay completely clean," said Paes.
SRK/MHB/AS