E. coli, which can cause food poisoning, is also the most common cause of urinary tract and bloodstream infections in the UK, which can be life-threatening. Ciprofloxacin belongs to a group of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, which are used to treat a variety of bacterial infections in humans and animals. The World Health Organization classifies these antibiotics as the highest priority critically important antibiotics.
The study is sought after E. coli resistant to ciprofloxacin carried in the intestines of 600 healthy dogs. The research team asked dog owners to complete a survey that provided details about their dog, its diet, the environments it was in, and whether the dog had been treated with antibiotics.
The microbiological data along with the survey data were allowed for statistical analysis, which showed that Feeding dogs raw meat is the only significant risk factor associated with shedding this resistant bacteria in dog feces.. This work supports other published studies showing associations between dogs fed raw meat and the release of E. coli resistant
In the UK, a reduction in the use of ciprofloxacin by GPs has led to a reduction in ciprofloxacin resistance in E. coli through human infections. There has also been an almost complete halt to the use of fluoroquinolones in the treatment of farm animals in the UK. However the Fluoroquinolone use and resistance remain at very high levels worldwide.
Jordan Sealey a fellow researcher at the Faculty of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (CMM), who conducted the research, commented that his goal was “not to focus on raw dog food, but find out what makes a dog more likely to go outside E. coli resistant to its dirt. Our study found a strong association between the release of E. coli resistant to ciprofloxacin and feeding the dogs a raw food diet.
Mateo Avison professor of Molecular Bacteriology at CMM, who led the study, explained that “raw meat, whether for human consumption after cooking or sold as raw dog food, is likely to be contaminated with E. coli resistant to antibiotics. “Cooking kills bacteria and good hand hygiene reduces the immediate risk of these bacteria being swallowed and entering a person’s intestines.”
“Choosing to feed a dog raw meat means that a person almost always has to handle raw meat, and Our research is clear that raw feeding also means that pet owners are more likely to associate with a pet that sheds E. coli hold“.
“Individual measures to reduce the risk of dogs shedding resistant bacteria include switching to a non-raw food diet or getting good quality raw meat that can be cooked and cooked. Most raw food sold for consumption by dogs is not of cook able quality and can cause serious health risks to dogs when cooked.” Sealey added.
“Choosing to feed dogs meat from animals raised on farms in the UK or in other countries with very low use of critically important antibiotics on farms, can also reduce the risk that they can eat resistant bacteria for their dinner.”
As part of their response to the emerging antibiotic resistance crisis, they advocate providing more incentives to companies that join the raw dog food industry to source meat from farms with appropriate antibiotic use policies. and to analyze the meat in search of resistant bacteria. “Stricter limits should be placed on the amount of bacteria allowed in meat sold for consumption raw than in meat sold to be cooked before eating,” Avison concluded.
E. coli It is found in the intestines of normal humans and animals and can be transmitted between them, usually through poor household hygiene, for example after using the bathroom or handling food contaminated with faecal matter, including the raw meat. When dogs release resistant bacteria into the environment and home, there is a possibility that these bacteria can be transmitted to their owners and others..
Once a person eats less E. coli these bacteria They can stay in your intestines for years before causing an infection. There are hundreds of thousands of urinary tract infections caused by E. coli in the UK each year, as well as the thousands of bloodstream infections that often lead to life-threatening sepsis. When E. coli resistant to important antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, infections are more difficult to treat, meaning patients are more likely to be hospitalized and die.
