Public Health
Drug-resistant bacteria detected at Milton Cato hospital, Ministry says
Four patients carrying a bacterium the World Health Organization ranks as a critical priority have been identified through routine surveillance, with elective surgeries restricted while containment measures take effect.
KINGSTOWN. The Ministry of Health, Wellness, Environmental Health and Energy says four patients with wounds at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital have been identified with a drug-resistant bacterium, picked up through the ministry’s routine laboratory and antimicrobial resistance surveillance systems.
The organism is Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, known as CRAB, carrying the New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM, resistance mechanism. In plain terms, the ministry explains, Acinetobacter baumannii is a bacterium that mainly causes infections in people who are very sick or hospitalised, while the NDM enzyme lets it break down carbapenems, a class of powerful antibiotics normally held in reserve for serious infections.
The World Health Organization lists carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii as a “critical priority” pathogen on its 2024 bacterial priority list, the highest of three tiers, because such infections are hard to treat and carry a high risk of death among vulnerable hospital patients. The bacterium is one of the so-called ESKAPE group known for evading the antibiotics still available to doctors.
Even so, the ministry moved to limit public alarm. The detection, it said, “does not mean that members of the general public are at immediate increased risk.” The findings had instead triggered a response to detect, contain and reduce any spread inside the hospital, it said.
What the hospital is doing
The ministry set out a series of steps now under way at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital:
- Enhanced infection prevention and control practices
- Continued laboratory and environmental testing
- Antimicrobial resistance surveillance and contact tracing
- A review of possible epidemiological links between the four cases
- Deep cleaning and sanitisation of equipment and surroundings
- Monitoring for any additional cases
- Restrictions on elective surgeries
The restriction on elective surgeries is the measure most likely to reach patients directly, though the ministry did not say how long it expects the limits to remain in place, or how many procedures could be affected.
A wider resistance problem
Antimicrobial resistance, the ministry noted, is a growing global public health concern that develops when bacteria and other microorganisms survive medicines once effective against them. It renewed its call for antibiotics to be used responsibly and only as prescribed by a healthcare professional.
The episode puts a spotlight on infection-control capacity at the country’s main referral hospital, while also showing that the surveillance meant to catch unusual patterns is functioning as intended. Resistant organisms of this kind circulate in hospitals worldwide, and their appearance at a national facility tracks with wider regional and international trends rather than pointing to a purely local failing.
The ministry said its administrative team, together with hospital management and clinical staff, would keep monitoring the situation and put in place the measures needed to protect patients, healthcare workers and the general public.
This report is based on a public statement issued by the Ministry of Health, Wellness, Environmental Health and Energy on 10 August 2026. Vincypowa News will update the story as further official information becomes available.