Dogs and cats could be passing on drug-resistant bugs to owners, study finds

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The European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark, presented new research indicating that healthy dogs and cats could transmit multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) to their hospitalized owners, and vice versa. 

The study, conducted by Dr. Carolin Hackmann and her colleagues at Charité University Hospital Berlin, Germany, looked at over 2,800 hospital patients and their companion animals, testing for the most common superbugs in hospital patients, including MRSA, VRE, 3GCRE, and CRE, which are resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Dogs and cats could be passing on drug-resistant bugs to owners, study finds
Dogs and cats could be passing on drug-resistant bugs to owners, study finds. Image: MikeB

Of the 2,891 hospital patients tested, 30% (871) tested positive for MDROs. The study also found that 15% of dogs and 5% of cats tested positive for at least one MDRO. Four cases matched phenotypically between pets and their owners, and one matched genetically. 

The study suggests that while the level of sharing between hospital patients and their pets is low, carriers can shed bacteria into their environment for months and may be a source of infection for other more vulnerable people in the hospital, such as those with a weak immune system, the very young, or the elderly.

The study is observational and cannot prove that close contact with pets causes colonization with MDROs, but only suggest the possibility of co-carriage, while the direction of transfer is unclear. 

The authors acknowledge several limitations, including possible under-reporting of MDRO colonization in pets due to difficulties in taking swab samples, which was done by pet owners themselves. 

The study results apply only to hospital patients in an urban area and may not be applicable to the general population or MDRO high-risk groups like livestock farmers.

Credit: this is a summary of a special early release from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023, Copenhagen, 15-18 April.

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