Cats and dogs are spreading dangerous antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’ to their owners, study finds

DOGS and cats are spreading drug-resistant “superbugs” to their owners, a study suggests.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be passed between sick pets and their healthy owners in Britain, Portuguese researchers have discovered.

You should try to keep your dog or cat in one room if he doesn’t feel well and make sure to clean the house to prevent spreading the global threat, they said.

Lead researcher Juliana Menezes, from the University of Lisbon, said: “Our findings highlight the importance of including pet-owning households in national programs that monitor antibiotic resistance levels.

“Learning more about resistance in pets would help develop informed and targeted interventions to safeguard animal and human health.

“When your pet is unwell, consider isolating them in one room to prevent the spread of bacteria throughout the house, and clean other rooms thoroughly.”

Antibiotic-resistant superbugs kill more than a million people around the world every year, with the World Health Organization warning that the planet is headed for a “post-antibiotic” era.

Projections show that antimicrobial resistance could claim 10 million lives annually by 2050 and the WHO classifies it as one of the greatest public health threats facing humanity.

The spread of superbugs can make regular infections and routine surgeries potentially fatal.

Ms Menezes said: “Recent research indicates that the transmission of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria between humans and animals, including pets, is crucial in maintaining resistance levels.

“This challenges the traditional belief that humans are the main carriers of AMR bacteria in the community.

“Understanding and addressing the transmission of AMR bacteria from pets to humans is essential to effectively combat antimicrobial resistance in human and animal populations.”

The latest study, presented at the ESCMID Global Congress, tested fecal and urine samples and skin swabs from dogs and cats and their owners.

They looked for Enterobacterales – a large family of bacteria that includes E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae – resistant to common antibiotics.

The researchers looked at five cats, 38 dogs and 78 humans from 43 homes in Portugal and 22 dogs and 56 humans from 22 homes in the UK.

All humans were healthy. All pets had skin and soft tissue infections or urinary tract infections.

Three cats, 21 dogs, and 28 owners had Enterobacterales resistant to third-generation cephalosporins.

In five households, one with a cat and four with dogs, both the animal and the owner carried resistant bacteria.

Genetic analysis showed that the strains were the same, indicating that the bacteria passed between the pet and the owner.

In one of these five families, a dog and its owner also had the same antibiotic-resistant strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

It was not possible to prove the direction of transmission, but the timing of the positive tests strongly suggests that the bacteria was being transmitted from pets to humans in some cases, the researchers said.