‘Superbug’ reported at second LA hospital

Four patients have been infected with an antibiotic-resistant infection at a hospital in Los Angeles, the second time the city has reported an outbreak this month.

Nearly 70 additional patients are also being tested for the potentially deadly infection, according to a hospital statement.

There have been at least 75 reported cases of “superbug” infections caused by the medical scopes between January 2013 and December 2014, the Food and Drug Administration added, though some cases likely went unreported.

The FDA has warned that the outbreaks are likely linked to a medical scope, which is known to be extremely difficult to disinfect. The scope is used on about 500,000 people each year.

Drug-resistant bacteria are a relatively new threat to public health. The infection, known as CRE, kills about half the people it infects and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) once described CRE as “nightmare bacteria.”

All but three states in the United States have reported infections in the last decade.