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Pollution, climate change feed drug-resistant 'superbugs'

Fed by pollution and climate change, strains of bacteria immune to all known antibiotics may become a major cause of death by mid-century, says the U.N. environment agency.

Antimicrobial resistant organisms are seen as a threat with more deadly potential than COVID-19
Antimicrobial resistant organisms are seen as a threat with more deadly potential than COVID-19 (AN/CDC/Unsplash)

Just as the world appears to be emerging from worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations is warning of an impending health crisis that by mid-century could pose an even greater threat and kill as many people a year as cancer.

Nourished, developed and spread by pollution from farming, pharma and health care, superbugs – strains of bacteria that have become resistant to all known antibiotics – could cause as many as 10 million deaths each year by 2050.

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