Pollution Crisis Persists in Argentina’s Glacial Rivers as Drug-Resistant Bacteria Threaten Health

The Fitz Roy and Las Vueltas rivers in El Chaltén, Patagonia, have been continuously discharging untreated sewage due to prolonged malfunctions at wastewater treatment plants. This has led to the detection of multidrug-resistant E. coli in the water. Among 27 bacterial strains, five are resistant to three classes of commonly used antibiotics, potentially triggering a public health emergency.