The Case of the Killer Eye Drops

Send us Fan MailIt was a real mystery. People showing up at hospitals and clinics across the US were infected with a rare and troubling strain of bacteria that was resistant to most of the drugs used to treat it. The strain itself had never been seen before. It was Pseudomonas aeruginosa, itself nothing rare. But this one carried a genetic change that allowed it to shake off the effects of even the strongest antibiotics usually used to treat it. Where had it come from? It took a good deal of detective work, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health officials finally figured out the common source was eye drops. They tracked down a couple of brands of eye lubricants and contained the outbreak. Now they’re working to find out how this particular germ got into eye drops in the first place, and how it acquired the mutations that made it so impervious to treatment. And they’re working to make sure that it’s not still lurking in the bodies of unsuspecting people. Dr. Maroya Walters, a CDC epidemiologist and commander in the US Public Health Service, helped lead the investigation. In this episode of One World, One Health, Dr. Walters explains how the team tracked down the source of the unusual outbreak, and how it demonstrates that superbugs know no borders.