Yahoo News Pet owners warned that dogs and cats are passing drug-resistant bacteria to humans
Cats and dogs are passing antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans, Portuguese researchers have found.
Owners are now being told to keep their pets isolated in one room if they fall ill. People are also being advised to deep clean their homes.
Researchers looked at cats, dogs and humans from households in Portugal and the UK. They found in some of the homes the pets and their owners had the same resistant bacteria, and genetic testing found they had been passed between pet and human, reports Wales Online.
Lead researcher Juliana Menezes, of the University of Lisbon, said: “When your pet is unwell, consider isolating them in one room to prevent the spread of bacteria throughout the house and clean the other rooms thoroughly.”
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs kill more than a million people across the world every year and could kill 10 million a year by 2050, according to the World Health Organisation.
