Personal Injury Law

Fluffy And Fido May Be Harboring MRSA

By Jane Akre

They Can Get It Too

MRSA or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections are known to like dark, damp places to grow and colonize.  A human nose may harbor the bacteria, and new research shows that MRSA may live just as well in your pet.

Writing in the British medical journal, Lancet Infectious Diseases, Dr. Richard Oehler and colleagues at the University Of South Florida College Of Medicine in Tampa, find that dogs and cats can colonize MRSA germs they get from their owners.

Many are transmitted back to humans by a scratch or a bite.   Petting will generally not transmit the pathogens.

Without human transmission, the pets on their own carry a slightly different strain of Staphylococcus bacteria.

MRSA

MRSA appears as a spider bite with a red center and swelling around it.  The boil, as it appears, can be treated early on by soaking. Otherwise they have to be lanced and drained. An infection can enter the bloodstream infecting heart valves, joints, lungs and bones. 

MRSA can enter the body through any breaks in the skin including bites, cuts, open wounds, or medical procedures such as surgical incisions or catheters.

Twenty years ago researchers reported that a cat, living among the elderly in the United Kingdom, had passed MRSA back to the residents in the geriatric unit. 

Three years ago, science discovered that human MRSA, the community-acquired variety, can be transmitted to our pets.  A short-haired domestic cat was found to have skin sores with the pathogen USA300, also a source of community-acquired MRSA or CA-MRSA.

Then the cat's owner had been reinfected and had soft-tissue staphylococcal infections.

With more than 350,000 emergency room visits due to dog bites in 2001, about 20 percent can become infected. ABC News reports the cost for treatment exceeds $1 billion a year. 

Pets can also transmit other bacteria such as Pasteurella, Streptococcus, Fusobacterium and Capnocytophaga, among about 30 other pathogens, reports Oehler. 

Take Action 

MRSA can be avoided through regular hand washing and use of antiseptic hand gels. 

To decolonize the bacteria in your home, clean the bathroom with a bleach solution and do not share towels or personal grooming items. 

Humans who repeatedly get MRSA should have a nose swab to see if it is colonized there. Anyone in the family also could be a carrier so should be tested as well.  

The CDC has launched the  National MRSA Education Initiative, aimed a specific actions parents can take to protect themselves and their children from the bacteria.   #

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on June 22, 2009 (boomark / email).