The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control estimated, in 2009, that each year 25, 000 Europeans die as a direct consequence of a multidrug-resistant infection.

BBC: Myth that antibiotics cure coughs and colds still rife

Meanwhile, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has told BBC Wales that Europe is at risk of missing its deadline for eliminating measles entirely by 2015.

BBC: Measles jab advice 'getting through' in Swansea

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease in the European Union, said initial findings suggested the virus may have originated in animals - diseases known as zoonotic.

BBC: New 'Sars-like' not easily transmitted says WHO