The world’s first UK study is set to monitor resistant bacteria levels in healthy dogs and cats, paving the way for protecting animal and human health.
The purpose of this study is to provide important information essential to reduce the development and spread of infections caused by resistant bacteria.
Over half of UK adults own pets and live with them in a shared environment. This means that bacteria containing resistant bacteria can easily spread between animals and people.
All animals and humans have bacteria in their bodies, but in many cases these bugs do not cause harm. However, some bacteria may be resistant to antibiotics and, if they cause infection, can lead to serious human or animal health effects.
The purpose of this study is to better understand the levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in household pets across the UK to better protect public health and pet health.
Understanding dog and cat resistant bacteria
The aim is to help pet owners across the UK contribute to the research programme and identify the most reliable ways to understand antibiotic-resistant bacteria in dogs and cats.
This includes outreach to households and veterinary practices in which they submit fecal samples from animals they care about.
These samples generate AMR monitoring data for the first time for healthy companion animals. Scotland’s Royal College (SRUC) conducts pilot research over four years, establishes surveillance programs in other countries, bringing enormous expertise in this field.
“We’ve seen a lot of people who have had a lot of trouble with their health,” explains John Berezowski, professor of disease surveillance at SRUC’s Rural and Veterinary Innovation Centre (RAVIC) in Inverness.
“Our experts have worked hard to develop practical AMR surveillance systems. Following a team approach, we will work with pet owners and veterinarians to explore the best ways to collect samples for surveillance across the UK.”
Increased levels of surveillance for animal diseases
This work is built on existing animal surveillance programs coordinated by the Veterinary Department (VMD).
Currently, in the UK companion animals, surveillance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria only covers a limited number of clinically creepy animals, and no country currently has a representative national surveillance of AMR in healthy dogs and cats.
Furthermore, this work follows a similar study recently conducted by the UKHSA to examine levels of resistant bacteria in healthy people.
VMD is working to address the gaps in clinical surveillance data from companion animals in veterinary care by addressing barriers to public-private data sharing. This work is funded by the integrated security fund biosecurity portfolio and is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Liverpool and the Institute of Civil Veterinary Medicine.
“We are proud to launch this groundbreaking AMR surveillance project for healthy cats and dogs using SRUC. They have a proven track record of establishing surveillance programs from scratch. This new study is a true health intervention to tackle AMR.”
She concluded: “A recent report issued by the Public Accounting Committee on AMR highlights the need to address the animal surveillance gap and is pleased that VMD is already fostering progress in this area.”
Source link
