Wash hands before touching your pooch

Kansas, January 30: According to a new study, dog owners are likely to spread more germs to their pets by not washing hands than they do by sleeping with them.

Dr. Kate Stenske, an assistant professor at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine said that diseases are transferable between dogs and people. Based on the knowledge that about 75 percent of emerging diseases are zoonotic, meaning they are transferable between humans and other animals, she wanted to examine the public health aspects of such activities.

Stenske said, "I became interested in the topic because there is such a strong bond between dogs and their owners. If you look at one study, 84 percent of people say their dog is like a child to them."

The focus of her study was E. coli bacteria, which is common in the gastrointestinal tracts of both dogs and humans.

She declared, "People have it, dogs have it, and it normally doesn't cause any problems. But it can acquire genesdefine to make it antibioticdefine resistant."

For the study, her team analyzed the fecal samples from dogs and their owners and looked at the bacteria's DNA fingerprints. The researchers found that 10 percent of dog-human pairs shared the same E. coli strains. She also found that the E. coli had more resistance to common antibiotics than expected, although the owners had more multiple-drug resistant strains than their pets.

Stenske concluded, "This makes us think that dogs are not likely to spread multiple drug-resistant E. coli to their owners, but perhaps owners may spread them to their dogs. What we learn from this is that antibiotics really do affect the bacteria within our gastrointestinal tract, and we should only take them when we really need to -- and always finish the entire prescription as directed."

Hence, the research highlighted the fact that bed sharing and face licking did not affect the E. coli. However, Dr Stenske advised the petdefine owners to exercise hygiene, like wash their hands after petting their dog, or before cooking a meal.

Stenske commented that there are physical and psychological benefits of pet ownership, but people should use common sense and good hygiene practices to keep germ transmission under control. She added, ''We should continue to own and love our pets because they provide a source of companionship.”

Her research is to be published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research.