JERUSALEM — A killer bacteria resistant to antibiotics is sowing panic across Israel as it sweeps through hospitals, leaving scores dead and afflicting hundreds more. Five hundred people in more than 10 hospitals have been struck down with the lethal Klebsiella bacteria strain in the past six months, with 30 percent of cases ending in death, senior health ministry official Yair Amikam told AFP. Battling to cope, the health ministry is demanding an extra half a billion dollars to improve hospital infrastructure and for hundreds of new beds, as doctors raise alarm bells of a wildfire epidemic failing decisive action. ‘There were 500 cases in the last six months, 30 percent of which end in fatality. All of them are old patients suffering from many kinds of illness and this is not the only reason that caused death,’ Amikam said. News of the bug first broke this week and has since dominated the print and electronic media in the Jewish state. ‘Bacteria Epidemic Feared’, warned one headline. ‘Resistance Bacteria Rampant – and Health Ministry Has No Data’, screamed another. The health ministry initially kept the outbreak secret to avoid mass panic in a country […]