:
John,
"Nightmare bacteria."
It's as scary as it sounds -- and it's getting scarier.
A recent CDC report shows an alarming rise in drug-resistant "nightmare bacteria" in the U.S. Between 2019 and 2023, these dangerous, sometimes deadly, infections increased in hospitals by as much as 461%.[1]
But what exactly are "nightmare bacteria"? And what can we do to reverse this frightening trend? Here's what you need to know.
These dangerous superbugs are a "nightmare" because they've developed resistance to some of our strongest antibiotics, making them difficult or impossible to treat.
In 2020 alone, an especially notorious strain known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) caused 12,700 infections and 1,100 deaths in the U.S., earning the nickname "nightmare bacteria."[2]
The more often bacteria are exposed to a certain antibiotic, the more opportunities they have to learn and develop resistance to it. As new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are born, infections we were once able to treat become more dangerous -- and potentially deadly.[3]
The rise of the "nightmare bacteria" should be a reminder of the larger problem of antibiotic resistance. One of the leading causes of antibiotic-resistent bacteria is the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture.
A staggering two-thirds of all antibiotics useful in human medicine in the U.S. are used on livestock and poultry -- most of whom aren't even sick. The more we use these antibiotics on a massive scale, the more we're unnecessarily exposing bacteria to them, giving those bacteria more and more chances to develop resistance.[4]
We need to stop the overuse of antibiotics in factory farms and only use these powerful, lifesaving drugs when we actually need them.
To do that, PIRG is calling on restaurants, grocery stores and fast food chains to stop purchasing any meat that has been raised using routine, unnecessary antibiotics.
And we know that when we call on companies to do the right thing, we can win. We've helped convince food giants like Wendy's, Subway and KFC to commit to stop serving chicken raised with routine antibiotics, and we've won a similar commitment from chicken producer Tyson.[5]
Incidents of antibiotic resistance, like this spike in "nightmare bacteria," should remind us just how essential it is for other companies to follow suit as quickly as possible.
We can't go back to a time when common infections were deadly -- not when we have powerful drugs that should be able to treat them.
Thank you,
Faye Park
President
P.S. Next in our corporate campaigns to end the overuse of antibiotics: McDonald's and Trader Joe's. But we can't run campaigns like this without grassroots support. Will you make a donation today to keep all of our advocacy going strong?
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1. Liam Sacino, "What to know about "Nightmare Bacteria," US PIRG, October 1, 2025.
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2. Lauren Young, "Infections of Drug-Resistant 'Nightmare Bacteria' Are Surging in Hospitals," Scientific America, September 24, 2025.
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3. Liam Sacino, "What to know about "Nightmare Bacteria," US PIRG, October 1, 2025.
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4. Liam Sacino, "What to know about "Nightmare Bacteria," US PIRG, October 1, 2025.
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5. Matt Wellington, "Why consider buying antibiotic-free meat," PIRG, October 31, 2022.
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U.S. PIRG
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