Super Bug


(1) An organism which, when ingested by macrophages, is either not digested, or is resistant to phagocytosis
Examples Mycobacterium leprae and Leishmania spp reproduce in endocytotic vesicles, and Legionella spp—which inhibit intravesicular phagosomal acidification—turn off the system designed to destroy them
(2) A trival name for an extremophile, an organism—usually bacterial—which survives and thrives in extreme environments, e.g., in highly acid or alkaline settings, temperatures above boiling or below freezing, in deserts, etc.