text: Story highlights A man in England is infected with a form of the bacteria that is completely resistant to the first line of treatment 
   
   Gonorrhea has been a growing concern as the bacteria adapt 
   
   (CNN) Public Health England is investigating the case of a UK man infected with a multidrug-resistant form of gonorrhea. 
   
   The man attended sexual health services this year and was found to be infected with a form of the bacteria that is completely resistant to the first line of treatment used against it. 
   
   First-line treatment for gonorrhea is a combination of two antibiotics (azithromycin and ceftriaxone), and this is the first global report of an infection with high-level resistance to both drugs, according to Public Health England. 
   
   The man caught the sexually transmitted infection in Southeast Asia one month before his symptoms began, the case report states. 
   
   His infection is "is very resistant to the recommended first-line treatment," said Dr. Gwenda Hughes, consultant scientist and head of the sexually transmitted infection section at Public Health England. "This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics." 
   
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   A man in the UK has caught the world's "worst-ever" case of super-gonorrhoea. 
   
   He had a regular partner in the UK, but picked up the superbug after a sexual encounter with a woman in South East Asia. 
   
   Public Health England says it is the first time the infection cannot be cured with first choice antibiotics. 
   
   Health officials are now tracing any other sexual partners of the man, who has not been identified, in an attempt to contain the infection's spread. 
   
   He picked up the infection earlier in the year. 
   
   The main antibiotic treatment - a combination of azithromycin and ceftriaxone - has failed to treat the disease. 
   
   Dr Gwenda Hughes, from Public Health England, said: "This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics." 
   
   Discussions with the World Health Organization and the European Centres for Disease Control agree this is a world first. 
   
   What is gonorrhoea? 
   
   Image copyright CAVALLINI JAMES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY 
   
   The disease is caused by the bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. 
   
   The infection is spread by unprotected vaginal, oral and anal sex. 
   
   Of those infected, about one in 10 heterosexual men and more than three-quarters of women, and gay men, have no easily recognisable symptoms. 
   
   But symptoms can include a thick green or yellow discharge from sexual organs, pain when urinating and bleeding between periods. 
   
   Untreated infection can lead to infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and can be passed on to a child during pregnancy. 
   
   Analysis of the man's infection suggests one last antibiotic could work. He is currently being treated and doctors will see if it has been successful next month. 
   
   So far no other cases - including in the British partner - have been discovered, but the investigation is still under way. 
   
   Dr Hughes added: "We are following up this case to ensure that the infection was effectively treated with other options and the risk of any onward transmission is minimised." 
   
   Doctors have long been warning this could happen. 
   
   In 2015, there was an outbreak of azithromycin-resistant gonorrhoea centred on Leeds. 
   
   The fear is the bug could eventually become untreatable by any antibiotic. 
   
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   Dr Olwen Williams, the president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV said: "The emergence of this new strain of highly resistant gonorrhoea is of huge concern and is a significant development. 
   
   "We are concerned that the problem will worsen due to the dramatic cuts that have been delivered to the public health budget. 
   
   "Worryingly this has left sexual health services at 'tipping point', with clinic closures coming at the worst possible time." 
   
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   Public Health England say case is first global report of strand resilient to main antibiotic care 
   
   A man in the UK has contracted a super-strength strand of gonorrhoea believed to be the first case globally to resist the main antibiotic treatment. 
   
   
   
   Calls to rein in antibiotic use after study shows 65% increase worldwide Read more 
   
   Public Health England (PHE) said the patient had a regular female partner in the UK, but contracted the infection from a sexual encounter with a woman in south-east Asia. He visited a health clinic for treatment in early 2018. 
   
   Attempts to get rid of the sexually transmitted infection with the recommended treatment – a combination of antibiotics azithromycin and ceftriaxone – have failed. 
   
   “We are investigating a case who has gonorrhoea which was acquired abroad and is very resistant to the recommended first line treatment,” Dr Gwenda Hughes, the head of PHE’s STI section said. 
   
   “This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics.” 
   
   An analysis of the case for PHE notes it is the “first global report” of the infection resisting both antibiotics. 
   
   Gonorrhoea can lead to infertility if left untreated and is known to cause symptoms including unusual discharge from the sexual organ and inflammation. 
   
   Fears of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea spreading in the UK has prompted health officials to trace the man’s sexual partners to try to contain the spread. 
   
   The man’s UK partner tested negative for the infection, the PHE report said. 
   
   Dr Hughes added: “PHE actively monitors, and acts on, the spread of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhoea and potential treatment failures, and has introduced enhanced surveillance to identify and manage resistant strains of infection promptly to help reduce further spread.”
target: – Learning you have gonorrhea is bad; learning officials consider your case of gonorrhea the "worst ever" is something else entirely. The Press Association reports a man in the UK was diagnosed earlier this year with what is believed to be the first strain of gonorrhea to be resistant to the main antibiotic treatment. Public Health England says the man contracted this super-gonorrhea during a sexual encounter with a woman in Southeast Asia. His symptoms appeared about a month later, according to CNN. As is usual with gonorrhea, doctors attempted to treat it with the antibiotics azithromycin and ceftriaxone. Unusually, the antibiotics didn't work. "This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics," Dr. Gwenda Hughes with PHE says. The World Health Organization and the European Centres for Disease Control agree that it's a global first, the BBC reports. The man's antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea is a major concern for experts, who fear the STD becoming untreatable. "The bacteria that cause gonorrhea are particularly smart," Teodora Wi at WHO said last year. "Every time we use a new class of antibiotics to treat the infection, the bacteria evolve to resist them." Health officials are going back through the man's sexual history to keep the gonorrhea from spreading. So far no other cases have appeared, including in the man's regular female partner in the UK. Doctors are trying a final antibiotic on the man and will know if it worked next month.