President Obama moved via executive action Thursday to quell the rise of deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria blamed for tens of thousands of deaths a year in the United States. Obama signed an order establishing a new interagency task force and directed its members to deliver a plan by Feb. 15 to combat the threat of so-called "super bugs," bacteria that have built up a resistance to antibiotics commonly prescribed to people and animals. Top U.S. health officials called the rise of the bacteria an "urgent health threat" with major implications for economic and national security.
