There is a chance that raw pet food can spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Raw pet food is one of the most common routes for pathogenic bacteria to spread, which are particularly dangerous due to their antibiotic resistance. The trend of eating raw meat is expanding, and with it comes the growing risk that they will lead to a deadly bacteria for humans. After the presentation of certain research that indicated a more catastrophic condition than expected, the warning was sent worldwide in a more than authoritative venue, the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), conducted online this year.    

In the first study, researchers from the University of Porto in Portugal examined 55 samples of 25 of the most popular dog food brands in the nation and throughout the globe (fresh, dry, and frozen), 14 of which included raw beef, duck, salmon, turkey, chicken, and lamb. They were looking for a particularly pernicious type of bacteria known as enterococci, which are typically found in the intestine and are harmless there but are extremely deadly if found elsewhere. According to the International Journal of Food Microbiology study, sequences of resistance to several antibiotics were found in four out of ten food samples, including those that are deemed useful, such as vancomycin. All raw foods in the research study included enterococci with various antibiotic resistance, including linezolid resistance sequences, which had previously been discovered in severe cases across Europe.

Moreover, another group of Portuguese researchers confirmed the existence of another gene, termed MCR-1, which is colistin resistant. In their study, both the animals (102 in total, half of whom had skin or urine illnesses) and their owners (126, all in apparent good health) were examined. As a consequence, bacteria with the colistin resistance gene were found in four persons and eight animals, two of whom were animals and owners of the same home.    

The number of domestic dogs is on the rise: there are about 500 million in the world (90 million in Europe alone). Apart from the growing impact on meat consumption (in contrast with the attempt to decrease its production for humans), with pets also significantly increases the risk of passing deadly infections to humans.

According to the WHO, antibiotic-resistant bacteria kill 700 000 people each year, with that number expected to increase to 10 million by 2050 if action is not done as soon as possible to stem the development of resistance.      

 

Source:  

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168160521002439?via%3Dihub