Researchers Warn Dog Parents To Stop Sharing Bed With Their Dogs Over 'Superbug' Concerns

Researchers Warn Dog Parents To Stop Sharing Bed With Their Dogs Over 'Superbug' Concerns

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.

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