Can snuggling up to your pet give you MRSA?

Byline: ISLA WHITCROFT

CATHY CONNER assumed the red lump that suddenly appeared on her daughter's arm was an insect bite, so she covered it with antiseptic cream. But within 24 hours the button-sized swelling had doubled in size and the 15-year-old girl was running a temperature of 102.

'Kassandra complained that her arm was sore and felt tired and ill, so I decided to take her to the doctor,' recalls Cathy. He immediately diagnosed a bacterial infection, and prescribed antibiotic cream while they waited for the results of a swab.

Two days later the family was told Kassandra had MRSA - Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus - a potentially fatal superbug usually found in hospitals. Although Kassandra hadn't been anywhere near a hospital, Cathy didn't have to look far for the source of the infection.

'Our cat, Chloe, had had lesions for a few weeks,' explains Cathy. 'The vet had diagnosed an allergic reaction and treated her with a cream, but the lesions were becoming weepy and sore. Chloe is Kassie's cat. She slept on her bed, and sat on her lap for hours.

'As soon as Kassie was diagnosed, I took Chloe back to the vet and insisted he swab her wounds. Sure enough, the results of the swab showed that Chloe, too, had MRSA and was also put on strong antibiotics. To say I was horrified would be an understatement. I'd no idea that pets could get MRSA, let alone that it could travel back and forth between humans and animals. My vet had never heard of it, either.'

MRSA is a form of staphylococcus bacteria which have become resistant to antibiotics as a result of the medicine's overuse.

The first cases were reported in Seventies but these were relatively isolated. However, in the Nineties there was a huge increase in the number of cases, mainly in hospitals. But today MRSA is also found in the community - spread by the sheer number of people going in and out of hospital.

AN estimated one third of us carry the staphylococcus bacteria at any one time, and two per cent of that third carry the MRSA form.

While we are healthy and our immune system is strong, the bacteria is harmless and quickly shed by our body (either washed off or dying within a week) but before this happens it can be passed on to others who then become carriers.

Now it appears humans have passed this bacteria on to pets and the pets are passing it back to us - what experts are calling the 'flipflop' effect. 'When you handle animal you acquire organisms from it and that will include bacteria,' explains Professor David Williams, head of dermatology at the Royal Veterinary College in London.

'They will also acquire organisms from you. As the incidence of MRSA increases in humans, it's perfectly logical to expect there'll be a corresponding rise in animals that come into contact with the organisms.' 'The majority of carriers - both animal and human - will not experience any ill-effects from the bug,' adds Professor Williams.

'The real danger comes when either the animal or the human has open wounds, a depressed immune system or chronic long-term illness such as asthma. In this case, the MRSA can colonise within the body, usually via the blood stream or mucousa in the nostrils, and cause real damage.' The first recorded case of an animal dying from MRSA in the UK was in 2004. As more cases come to light, experts are trying to work out how prevalent it is among pets. One recent study by the veterinary hospital at Ohio State University discovered that 5.7 per cent of dogs admitted were MRSA carriers.

Earlier this year, a study of homes by another group of American researchers found MRSA in nearly half of the 35 residences they sampled, mostly on wet surfaces such as baths, sinks and tap handles. Significantly they found that: 'The presence of a cat in the home was found to be a strong predictor for [finding] MRSA.' Part of the problem for animals - as with humans - is the bug is being spread by poor hygiene, including in vets' practices.

Vets are not legally obliged to wear masks or gloves when operating. There are no regulations regarding post-operative care, with many animals put into cages that have not been cleaned since a previous use.

'Like humans, the animals most at risk are those who have had implants, such as hip replacements, or have had open-wound surgery,' says Mike Jessop, a practising vet from South Wales and past president of the British Small Animals Veterinary Association. 'More than ever before, vets and veterinary assistants have to be scrupulous in maintaining hygiene and explaining to owners the risks of infection when they take their pets homes.' There also needs to be greater awareness among GPs, says Jill Moss, who set up a foundation to help pet owners with MRSAinfected pets.

'We've had many cases where pet owners have gone to their GP to report their pet has MRSA, only to be met with blank stares.' We ignore this problem at our peril, says Dr Richard L. Oehler, an infectious disease specialist from the University of South Florida.

'This is a burgeoning epidemic,' he says. 'Pets are extremely common. We are talking about a lot of potentially infected animals and people.' But the medical establishment is not entirely convinced.

Earlier this month, the Bella Moss Foundation (www.thebellamossfoundation.com) hosted a conference with experts in the fields of microbiology, veterinary and human medicine to discuss human-animal transmission.

Although the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was one of the conference sponsors, it appears to have no definitive policy concerning cross infection. A spokesman told the Mail: 'Defra liaises closely with others involved in monitoring and investigating MRSA in animals.'

Meanwhile, the Health Protection Agency says: 'There is no way of proving a link between animal and human MRSA. Even if the pet had MRSA and the owner had MRSA, there is no proof that the pet caught it from the owner or viceversa.

The fact is they could have caught if anywhere.'

HOWEVER all experts agree there is no need to give up your beloved pet. Humans are more likely to acquire MRSA from other humans. Indeed animals are more at risk from humans than us from them.

'It is all about taking sensible precautions.

If your pet has a wound, they have to be treated hygienically in the same way you'd treat a human wound,' stresses Mike Jessop.

'Keep open wounds - even small cuts and grazes - covered up on you and your pet, use gloves when changing the dressing, don't let the pet lick you or others and wash your hands before and after you handle your pet.

'It's basic common sense which has been around in medicine for years. We just have to apply that to animal medicine, too.'

Adds Professor Walker: 'More than ever we have to practise joined-up medicine - one-world medicine - as it's known, if we are to protect both our animals and ourselves and prevent the spread of the bug in the community at large.'

The need to be more careful is a lesson Cathy Conners, from Illinois, U.S., has learned only too well.

'We were told if Kassandra didn't respond to the strong antibiotics, they'd have to consider amputating her forearm to prevent the spread of the infection,' she says. 'I don't think I slept for weeks with worry.

'Luckily, within 24 hours the wound began to subside and her temperature dropped. But she was weak and ill for weeks and sideeffects from the antibiotics were awful - her weight plummeted. Fortunately, a month later, she went back to school and a year on, she's pretty much recovered,' says Cathy.

'The vet explained the cat would have picked it up from a human carrier. It wasn't the cat's fault.'