Drug-Resistant Bacteria May Be Jumping Between Pets And Humans, Scientists Warn - ScienceAlert

What the report says

ScienceAlert reported that researchers in China have found genetic evidence suggesting the hospital-associated bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii may have more opportunity to move between humans and companion animals than between humans and livestock or wildlife. The finding stems partly from a 2022 investigation of chicken and duck embryos that died before hatching and were sent to a veterinary laboratory in China, where the pathogen was detected in brain tissue.

According to the report, scientists from Nanjing Agricultural University, Wuhu Institute of Technology and Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine compared the new poultry data with 509 animal samples from 17 countries and 33 species, as well as thousands of nearby human clinical samples. Their analysis, published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, found animal strains fell broadly into two groups: higher antimicrobial resistance among isolates linked mainly to horses, cats and dogs, and lower resistance among strains from livestock, poultry and wildlife.

The concern is that some strains from cats, dogs and horses were extremely similar genetically to strains found in human hospital patients in the same regions. ScienceAlert noted that one lineage, ST25, appeared across nine animal species, largely companion animals. Some pet-associated samples also carried carbapenem-resistance genes, which matter because carbapenems are often used when other antibiotics fail.

The article cautioned that the study does not prove a specific pet infected a specific person. Instead, it points to a possible transmission pathway that may be important because of close contact between people and companion animals. The broader public-health significance is tied to antimicrobial resistance and the need for more sampling across animals and humans to understand how often this pathogen crosses species boundaries.