How zinc starves lethal bacteria to stop infection

source: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-zinc-starves-lethal-bacteria-infection.html

Streptococcus pneumoniae is responsible for killing children, the elderly and many other people by causing pneumonia, meningitis, and other serious infectious diseases. Zinc plays the role by blocking a certain area that bacteria needs to travel in, and ends up starving it. It blocks a protein transporter, where bacteria gets manganese, a metal that helps cause disease with the bacteria. If manganese wasn't existent, the bacteria would be harmless and removable simply. This is a useful discovery and can help save millions of lives in the future.