Australia is facing an epidemic of a drug-resistant superbug that attacks healthy teenagers and can be fatal.

Of particular concern is a new virulent form of the flesh-eating resistant staphylococcal superbug (also known as MRSA) that can lead to a severe form of pneumonia that causes death in up to 50 percent of cases. Unlike hospital-acquired MRSA, which affects mostly elderly patients, the community strain of the bug carries far more toxic genes and can be picked up in communal settings.

Similar bugs in the U.S. have led to the deaths of several teenagers and schools being shut and disinfected.

Experts say the bug is on the rise in Australia, and patients are coming to emergency departments with infected boils that can lead to abscesses and gaping wounds.