Link: Connecticut Pets -.
Studies show pets are enhancing the spread of so-called "super bugs." These bacteria, historically picked up in the hospital by people, are frustrating to treat since they're resistant to common antibiotics.
Take Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (or MRSA). It turns out people can come home from the hospital with this nasty bug -- even if they never have an outward symptom. Then, MRSA is passed on to a family pet. Sometimes pets get sick, sometimes they don't, but either way, they can spread the bug into the community.
Super bugs being spread by pets are a potential public health issue, says Dr. J. Scott Weese, a specialist in large animal internal medicine and professor in clinical studies at Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph in Canada. His findings were among those announced at the annual Forum of the American College of Veterinary Medicine (ACVIM) June 1-4 at the Baltimore Convention Center.
