ANTIBIOTIC-resistant bacteria such as MRSA tend to be associated
with hospitals, but household pets are also helping superbugs to
spread. Richard Oehler of the University of South Florida in
Tampa reviewed studies from the last decade of people who caught
infections from their pets, either through bites or other
contact. He found that a significant portion of infections were
antibiotic-resistant, including some caused by the dreaded
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. One analysis found
that 35 per cent of S. aureus samples taken from cats and dogs
were MRSA (The Lancet, vol 9, p 439). Oehler suggests that the
rise in antibiotic-resistant infections in people means pets are
also more likely to be infected. They then act as "reservoirs"
that reinfect humans. "Finding MRSA in a pet doesn't mean the
pet was the original source," says the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.