Soil from Co Fermanagh has been found to have bacteria which is effective against four of the top six superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics, including MRSA.

Antibiotic resistant superbugs could kill up to 1.3 million people in Europe by 2050, according to research by the OECD.

Researchers from Wales, Brazil, Iraq and Northern Ireland working in Swansea University Medical School, discovered the new strain, which they named Streptomyces sp. myrophorea.

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The soil they analysed came from the Boho Highlands area of Fermanagh, where the alkaline soil is reputed to have healing properties.

Traditionally, a small amount of soil was wrapped up in cotton cloth and used to heal many ailments including toothache, throat and neck infections.