Scientists urge people to not share a bed with dogs due to ‘untreatable superbug’

Scientists have warned dog owners not to share a bed with their pets to stop the transmission of an ‘untreatable superbug’ first identified in China seven years ago.

The mcr-1 gene is thought to be transmitted from animals to humans, passed on by dogs who carry it in their gut and pass it on through fecal matter.

Researchers at the University of Lisbon took samples from 126 people in 80 households, who were living with 102 cats and dogs at the time.

Looking at them over a couple of years, they found that eight of the dogs and four humans were hosting bacteria, including the mcr-1 gene.

Three of the dogs, however, were perfectly healthy, while the rest had tissue or urinary tract infections (UTIs).

“If bacteria resistant to all drugs acquire this resistance gene, they would become untreatable, and that’s a scenario we must avoid at all costs,” Dr Juliana Menezes, who led the research, said.

“We know that the overuse of antibiotics drives resistance and it is vital that they are used responsibly, not just in medicine but also in veterinary medicine and in farming.”