'Untreatable Bug' Found in Dogs, Experts Warns Against Sharing Bed With Them

Experts warned dog owners to stop sharing beds with their fur baby to avoid the spread of an "untreatable superbug".

A study shows that the MCR-1 gene, which is believed to be transmitted from animals to humans, has built resistance to life-saving drugs, the Mirror reported.

Researchers at the University of Lisbon tested households to locate the presence of the gene, and the tissue infections were found where the dog and owners normally stayed together.

Faecal samples from 126 healthy people living with 102 cats and dogs in 80 households were taken over a period of two years until February 2022.

In the same numbers, eight dogs and four humans were hosting bacteria, including MCR-1.

The study also showed that three of the dogs were healthy and others had tissue or urinary tract infections.

Dogs can contract MCR-2 in their gut before it is transported, and the researchers warned that humans can pick up the bug.

Read Also: Dogs Who Walk Slowly Could Be Suffering From Dementia, Research Shows

Untreatable Bug

The research was presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Conference, where experts said that agricultural regions such as the southern European countries that use colistin are less likely to contract the MCR-1 gene.

"Colistin is used when all other antibiotics have failed; it is a crucial treatment of last resort," said Dr. Juliana Menezes, who led the research, as quoted by the Greenock Telegraph.

"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," she added

The gene was first identified in China in 2015, which was transported from animals to human through microscopic faecal particles.

The United Nations said that drug-resistant infections are responsible for the deaths of an estimated 700,000 people per year worldwide.

This number could rise to 10 million by 2050 if it is not addressed accordingly.

Pet Giving Gems Are Unclear

Early studies show that experts noted that cross-transmission is rare, but it is still unclear if pets are the ones giving germs to people or the other way around.

More than 2,800 hospital patients at Charité University Hospital Berlin and their pets are examined to determine whether the animals are responsible for patients infected with multidrug-resistant organisms.

"Our findings verify that the sharing of multidrug-resistant organisms between companion animals and their owners is possible," Dr. Carolin Hackmann said as reported by Eurek Alert.

"However, we identified only a handful cases suggesting that neither cat nor dog ownership is an important risk factor for multidrug-resistant organism colonization in hospital patients."

The study releved that only 30% tested positive for multidrug-resistant organisms and 70% tested negative. Of those who tested positive, 11% were dog owners and 9% were cat owners.

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