New strains of Typhoid that can resist the strongest available antibiotics have emerged in South Asia, raising concerns over the potential spread of drug-resistant infections. A gene capable of breaking down carbapenems, a class of powerful antibiotics seen as a drug of last resort, was discovered among 32 samples collected from hospitals across western and southern India. Testing showed that this gene, known as blaNDM-5, can move between different types of bacteria, raising fears that such resistance could spread quickly. The discovery is the latest in a series of setbacks for efforts to contain the spread of typhoid. Typhoid fever may sound like a relic of the past, but experts warn it is rapidly evolving into a 21st-century threat, one the world is unprepared for. Recent outbreaks of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) typhoid across South Asia – strains resistant to most common antibiotics – highlight the danger. Since 2016, more than 15,000 XDR typhoid cases have been reported in Pakistan, while strains resistant to the antibiotic azithromycin have also appeared in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and beyond. …