33Vol. 3, No. 1—January-March 1997 Emerging Infectious Diseases Synopses

is among the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases throughout much of the world. The emergence of resistance to anti-microbial agents in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major obstacle in the control of gonorrhea. In 1989 and 1993, in response to the increasing frequency of isolation of penicillin-, tetracycline-, and spectinomycin-resistant strains of N. gonor-rhoeae in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recom-mended the use of broad-spectrum cephalosporins or fluoroquinolones for the primary treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea (1,2). However, resis-tance to fluoroquinolones has now emerged in N. gonorrhoeae (3-8). Because ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin are more frequently used to treat gonorrhea than other fluoroquinolones, this synopsis will focus on these agents