Drug-resistant infections kill 700,000 people each year… and PETS might be passing on super-strength bugs to you

• Researchers looked at pets on antibiotics potentially sharing bugs with owners
• The study focused on super-strength bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics

Pets may pass on drug-resistant superbugs to their owners, a study suggests.

Cats and dogs can share their bacteria with us through licks, nips and scratches, or by contact with their faeces, although the risk of becoming ill as a result is low.

However, they could help to influence the spread of superbugs.

Researchers in the UK and Portugal wanted to find out if pets being treated with antibiotics for skin, tissue and urinary tract infections were potentially sharing their bugs with their owners.

They took faecal samples from 43 pets and 78 people in 43 households in Portugal, and from seven dogs and eight humans in seven households in the UK. The study focused on bacteria resistant to new antibiotics.

Researchers in the UK and Portugal wanted to find out if pets being treated with antibiotics for skin, tissue and urinary tract infections were potentially sharing their bugs with their owners (File image)

In six Portuguese homes, the DNA of a superbug from one cat and five dogs was similar to that of their owners, suggesting bacteria were probably passed between the animals and humans (File image)

In six Portuguese homes, the DNA of a superbug from one cat and five dogs was similar to that of their owners, suggesting bacteria were probably passed between the animals and humans. This was seen in one dog and owner in the UK. It is not known whether the bacteria were transferred from pet to human or vice versa.

But study leader Juliana Menezes, from the University of Lisbon, said it was vital to include pets ‘in assessments of antimicrobial resistance’.

Drug-resistant infections now kill around 700,000 people a year around the world.

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