New Research shows Pets are not a Pathogenic Bacteria Risk – Truth about Pet Food

Pet owners are often led to believe owning a pet is like owning a bacterial time bomb – especially if you feed raw pet food. Now we have scientific evidence to the contrary.

For years the FDA has issued warnings about the health risk to pet owners of raw pet food. FDA’s concern: “Owners who feed their pet a raw diet may have a higher risk of getting infected with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.” FDA offers “Safe Handling” instructions for pet owners feeding all types of pet food, but raw pet food has been their biggest concern; “If you choose to feed raw pet food, you should be aware of the risks.”

A new study is proving that pet owners actually do wash their hands and/or the FDA warnings were knee-jerk, unscientifically based reactions.

“In the unmatched case-control study, researchers from University Hospital Berlin are collecting nasal and rectal swabs of hospital patients and their pets to test them for MDROs, including MRSA, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Phenotypically matching MDROs from pets and their owners are then tested for genetic relatedness—an indication of transmission—using whole genome sequencing (WGS).”

Researchers from a hospital in Germany have been looking very closely into the those numerous opinions that pets will shed pathogenic bacteria and sicken their owners, and handling pet food could sicken pet owners. What the researchers have discovered is remarkable.

So far, 1,500 patients have participated in the study; 20% of those patients were pet owners. The research found that 33% of all patients (both pet owners and non-pet owners) tested positive for a multi-drug resistant organism (multi-drug resistant bacteria). Of the pets tested – 77 dogs and 71 cats – 14% tested positive for a multi-drug resistant organism (23 dogs and 1 cat).

Significantly, of the multi-drug resistant bacteria positive pet owning patients – only 1.8% were found by DNA analysis to be identical bacteria species that was found in their pet.

“A univariate analysis of preliminary data showed no significant difference in pet husbandry or closeness of contact to pets between MDRO-positive and MDRO-negative hospital patients. A transmission of MDROs between human and animal was confirmed in only 1.8% of 112 pet owners and their respective pets. So far, the preliminary data does not indicate pet husbandry as a significant factor for MDRO colonization in hospital patients.”

In other words, this research is proving that owning a pet isn’t the pathogenic bacteria risk many want us to believe it is.

The study abstract did not provide information on what style of pet food (kibble, can, raw, etc.) participants provided their pets. We’re hopeful this information will be provided when the research is complete.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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