Experts warn not to allow a dog to lick your face

Experts have warned that letting your dog get bitten can spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria and are urging owners to avoid other harmful habits, such as dog eating off the plate. People are also required to wash their hands after grooming a dog or picking up litter.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria killed millions of people in 2019, and there are growing concerns that pets may help spread the bugs. Researchers from the Royal College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Lisbon have taken regular stool samples from humans, dogs and cats and found that they carry a number of “disturbing bacteria” in both pets and humans.

This included bacteria that had developed resistance to antibiotics, the Telegraph reported.

In Lisbon, results presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases show that pets and their owners share bacteria with each other.

Dr. Juliana Menezes, lead author of the study, said: “Although the participation rate by the families we studied is low, healthy carriers can carry the bacteria in their environment for months and can be a source of infection for the most vulnerable humans and animals, such as elderly and pregnant women.

Previous studies have linked factors of close contact between pets and their owners to the participation of bacteria (whether they are resistant or not). These risk factors include kissing, kissing the owner’s face, or eating from the owner’s plate. To reduce the spread of this bacteria inside the home, it will be necessary to reduce this close relationship between owners and their pets and to practice greater hygiene.

Because the bacteria we studied are present in the colonized digestive tract, transmission occurs via the fecal-oral route, so good hygiene practices by owners will help reduce sharing, such as washing hands after collecting dog droppings. Or even after coloring it.