Bacteria experts in India have confirmed that the antibiotic-resistant superbug is present in the country's capital New Delhi.

Former Indian Council of Medical Research chief and chairman of the Immunology Foundation of India N.K. Ganguly was quoted by the Indo-Asian News Service as saying that the multi-drug resistant New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 or NDM-1 comes from hospital waste that goes into Delhi's sewage water.

"It is the most deadliest bug roaming around," warned Ganguly, according to Xinhua.

Dr. Chand Wattal, senior consultant and chairman of the department of clinical microbiology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) also found that NDM-1 was present in samples of E. coli and pneumonia bacteria taken from hospital patients.

"We conducted this study over a five-month duration. A total of 10,889 samples were processed, of which 2,669 samples from wards and 2,598 from ICU were found positive for significant growth of bacteria. From these positive samples, we isolated 379 units of E. coli and 305 isolates of K pneumoniae -- hosts to NDM1 and frequent culprits in respiratory and lung infections," said Wattal, according to The Times of India.

SGRH medicine chairman Dr. S.P. Byotra said work to control the spread of the superbug should start, including strict monitoring of antibiotic use and infection control methods in hospitals.

Ganguly stressed the need for pharmacy auditing to check misuse of antibiotics.

In August 2010, the international health journal The Lancet announced the emergence of NDM-1 from India and its spread around the world. The bacteria are immune to the most powerful antibiotics called carbapanems.

A study on NDM-1 that also appeared in the said journal indicated the presence of the superbug in India's sewage and tap water. The author of the study, Dr. Mark Toleman, senior research fellow from Cardiff University in the UK, said proper disposal of medical waste and maintaining hand hygiene can help check the spread of the superbug.