IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An antibiotic resistant “superbug” has been found by University of Iowa researchers in area wildlife.

Cedar Rapids television station KCRG-TV reports (http://bit.ly/RedumJ) that the potentially deadly bacterial strain MRSA was found in two rabbits and a migrating bird in a study led by the university’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases.

MRSA is a contagious bacterial infection often called a superbug because it is resistant to many commonly used antibiotics.

Epidemiology professor Tara Smith says previous research has found MRSA in swine and pets and a few cases in the wild, such as in dolphins and chimpanzees. But she says this was the first time a broad species distribution was studied in one geographical area.

Researchers collected samples from 114 animals brought to the Wildlife Care Clinic at Iowa State University.