Superbugs

A report from the United Nations Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance says drug-resistant diseases already kill 700,000 people per year and could reach 10 million per year by 2050.

Driving the threat of AMR are a number of factors, including misuse and overuse of existing antimicrobials in humans, animals, and plants; lack of sanitation and clean water; transmission of resistant pathogens along the food system; and poor waste management by healthcare, pharmaceutical, and agricultural facilities.

Update (November 17):  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds there are over 3 million antibiotic resistance infections in the U.S. each year with about 48,700 deaths. That's more than twice as many deaths as previously estimated six years ago.