Infection rates from drug-resistant "nightmare bacteria" rose by 70% in the US, according to a new report.

The increase is driven by a difficult-to-treat gene called NDM, say researchers from the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Only two antibiotics work to treat it - and the drugs are expensive and have to be administered intraveneously.

Bacteria with the gene were once considered exotic, linked to a small number of patients who received medical care overseas, and though the numbers are still small, the rate of US cases jumped more than fivefold in recent years, the researchers reported.

"The rise of NDMs in the US is a grave danger and very worrisome," said David Weiss, an infectious diseases researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

The report took dat

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