Can Dog Poop Spread Harmful Germs from Pets to Humans?
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Investigators found that dogs with multidrug-resistant E. coli shed the bacteria in 5 out of 10 cases, and many of the strains belong to groups of bacteria that commonly make people sick.
The study aims to add to what we know about antibiotic resistance, and it looks at an area that hasn’t been studied extensively, says Daniel Brailita, MD, an assistant professor of infectious disease at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, who was not involved in the study. “In Nebraska and the U.S. in general, there have been similar studies, but mostly addressing the human food chain, such as cattle and chicken that were affected by prior antibiotic use,” says Dr. Brailita.
Although the study looks at dogs in a specific part of China, similar findings could be found in dogs in the U.S. as well, he says.
The Presence of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria ‘Ignored or Understudied’ in Pets
Looking for antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals is common practice in the United States, although the majority of screenings are in livestock because of the widespread use of antibiotics and the associated public and food safety risk, says Megan Jacob, PhD, a professor of veterinary microbiology at the NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh. “Companion animals have been ignored or understudied, but we are starting to appreciate the risk that they might possess, because their relationships and interactions with people are so much more intimate than with those other animal sources that we’ve that we’ve traditionally studied,” says Dr. Jacob, who was not involved in the research.
Drug-Resistant Bacteria Found in Most of the Dog Poop Samples
The study was conducted in China, where there are over 100 million house pets. According to the authors, the latest reports show that the use of veterinary antibiotics for animals in the country exceeded 30,000 tons in 2020.
Given the widespread use of antimicrobials in animals, researchers decided to investigate multidrug-resistant E. coli in dogs to better understand the potential health risks it could pose for both the and their humans.
The team studied 185 dog diarrhea samples from the university’s veterinary hospital and found E. coli strains in 135 samples. The majority (118) were resistant to at least one antibiotic.
Authors Warn That Dogs May Pose a Transmission Risk for Humans
This study, though, wasn’t designed to prove any human health risks posed by drug resistant E. coli found in the samples, but rather to raise awareness of potential silent transmission, says Brailita. There’s no reason for the public to panic about these findings, he says.
“In general, acquiring a drug-resistant bacteria does not always lead to infection, but it is reasonable to think that immunosuppressed individuals, frail individuals, and extremes of age could be at higher risk of clinical infection and more severe consequences,” he says.
Jacob agrees that there’s no need to sound the alarm bells at this point. Although these findings could be a useful marker in understanding antibiotic-resistant markers, it isn’t clear what, if any, risks humans face from the bacteria found in dogs, she says. “There’s not a need to panic because we don’t know if they would be pathogens,” says Jacob.
Antibiotic Use Isn’t the Only Factor That Causes Antibiotic Resistance
“Some antimicrobial resistance is bred by use or overuse of antibiotics — which is very much different from country to country — but there are also other mechanisms of resistance,” says Brailita. Interestingly, a full correlation between antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic use is not always 100 percent demonstrated, he adds.
“Ultimately, a common effort to curb unnecessary antibiotic use may lessen the resistance burden, although our direct impact on this companion animal microbiota is still unknown,” says Brailita.
Is it likely that dogs in the United States would have the same amounts of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in their poop? It’s unclear if it would be the same; but there may be partial overlap, says Brailita.
Expert Tips on What to Do if Your Dog Has Diarrhea
Although it isn’t clear if the findings here demonstrate a clear risk to humans, anytime that you are interacting with highly concentrated bacteria, you should practice good hygiene, says Jacob.
- Wash your hands after interacting with your dog. This is especially true if they are showing signs of illness like diarrhea. Washing your hands in running water is best, and hand sanitizer is useful too, she says.
- Wear gloves while picking up or cleaning up dog poop and dispose of it promptly.
- If symptoms persist, especially bloody diarrhea or your dog is acting sick, take them to the vet.
- Isolate a sick pet as much as possible to keep them from getting people or other pets sick, says Jacobs. Talk to your vet about how long the sick pet should be kept away from others, she suggests.
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