New Delhi:
Just a day after leading medical journal The Lancet reported on the presence of Superbug in Delhi's drinking water, the Health Ministry has rejected the study.
The study said that bacteria producing the Superbug were found in 51 out of 171 water samples taken from the city, mainly in busy areas like Connaught Place.
But officials accused the authors of collecting water samples illegally and said there is no evidence that the presence of the Superbug in the environment has affected people.
The NDM, first identified in 2009, is a gene that enables some types of bacteria to be highly resistant to almost all antibiotics.
"Gangaram study shows that over two years, none of 1944 women showed any resistance," said Dr Shashi Khare, Additional Director, NCDC.
"NDM1 is resistant because of a genetic mutation which occurs outside the body," said Dr VN Katoch, DG, ICMR.
The officials say it is yet another attempt to malign India after NDM1 was controversially named after New Delhi. The Superbug, they point out, is found in many other countries and not just India.