Researchers are warning dog parents who share a bed with their dogs to desist from it due to concerns over an antibiotic-resistant “superbug” currently on the rise. They believe dogs transfer the MCR-1 gene found in their guts to humans via fecal matter.
Researchers with the University of Lisbon said in a press release that a study they conducted found dog parents with MCR-1 gene in two households where the dogs had infections.
The researchers took additional samples from 126 people living with 102 cats and dogs in 80 households. Over a few years, researchers discovered eight dogs and four humans in the study were infected with bacteria and had the MCR-1 gene. Three of the eight dogs appeared healthy, while the remaining five suffered tissue or urinary tract infections.
The issue with the MCR-1 gene is that it can make bacteria resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic drug for some multidrug-resistant infections.
“If bacteria resistant to all drugs acquire this resistance gene, they would become untreatable, and that’s a scenario we must avoid at all costs.” Dr. Juliana Menezes, the lead researcher of the study, said.
The World Health Organization lists drug-resistant bacteria as one of the largest threats against humanity. While being close to our dogs is something we all love, proper hygiene is important, including having personal space.