Humans and pets share MRSA bacteria
Scientists say MRSA infections in cats and dogs are rare.
Cambridge scientists have found that humans and companion animals harbour the same types of MRSA infections.
When researchers compared 46 MRSA samples from UK cats and dogs to a global collection of human samples, they found that the infections fell into the same family - epidemic MRSA 15 (EMRSA-15) (sequence type ST22), a common strain of the bacterium.
Scientists say their findings indicate the companion animal bacteria originated in humans.
"Our study demonstrates that humans and companion animals readily exchange and share MRSA bacteria from the same population," explained lead author Mark Holmes, senior lecturer in preventative veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge.
Findings published this week in mBio, the online journal of the American Society for Microbiology, suggest that MRSA can be readily transmitted in veterinary hospital settings, just as it is in human hospitals.
“It’s a reminder that constant vigilance and high levels of hygiene are just as important when treating cats and dogs as with humans,” Holmes says.
In addition, scientists discovered that the animal MRSA they studied was significantly less likely than human MRSA to be resistant to erythromycin, which is rarely used in UK veterinary practices.
MRSA in the animal samples was more likely to contain mutations causing resistance to clindamycin, which is widely used in veterinary medicine in the UK.
Holmes stressed, however, that MRSA infection in cats and dogs is rare, with "very little risk" of owners contracting it from their pets. Likewise, healthy pets are unlikely to pick up MRSA from humans, he explained, but if the pet is already ill, MRSA patients should speak to their vet.
The article can be read online here.
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
