Patients warned after ‘nightmare bacteria’ kills two people

Nearly 180 people might have been exposed to a potentially deadly superbug at one of California’s largest hospital systems.

At least seven people have been infected by the drug-resistant bacteria and two people have died, officials at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center said late Wednesday.

Officials began notifying patients who might have been exposed this week, after they first learned of the infection late last month, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The infection, also known as CRE, is linked to contaminated medical scopes, which UCLA officials are now investigating. Both the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the California Department of Public Health were also notified.

“UCLA is now utilizing a decontamination process that goes above and beyond the manufacturer and national standards,” the hospital wrote in a statement.

Top health leaders have increasingly warned against drug-resistant bacteria, which are a relatively new threat to public health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) once described CRE as “nightmare bacteria.” The infection kills about half the people it infects.

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