Risk of sharing resistant bacteria and/or resistance elements between dogs and their owners

BACKGROUND: The indiscriminate use and the similarity of prescribed antibiotics especially beta-lactams in human and small animal medicine, along with the close communication between pets and humans, increases the risk of the transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and/or resistance elements especially integrons, between them. Therefore, we aimed to compare the frequencies of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing strains, major ESBL genes, classes 1 and 2 integrons, and antibiotic resistance patterns of fecal Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates from dogs and their owners. METHODS: The present study was conducted on 144 commensal E. coli isolates from the feces of 28 healthy dog-owner pairs and 16 healthy humans who did not own pets. Phenotypic confirmatory test was used to identify the frequencies of ESBL-producing E. coli. Frequencies of bla(CTX-M), bla(SHV), and bla(TEM) genes, and also classes 1 and 2 integrons were determined by polymerase chain reaction. Resistance against 16 conventional antibiotics was determined by disk diffusion technique. RESULTS: ESBL-production status was similar between the E. coli isolates of 71.4% of dog-owner pairs. The E. coli isolates of 75, 60.7, and 85.7% of dog-owner pairs were similar in terms of the presence or absence of bla(CTX-M), bla(TEM), and bla(SHV) genes, respectively. The presence or absence of class 1 and class 2 integrons was the same in E. coli isolates of 57.1% of dog-owner pairs. Prevalence of resistance to chloramphenicol and tetracycline was significantly higher in E. coli isolates of dogs than owners, but for other 10 (83.3%) tested antibiotics, no statistically significant difference was found in prevalence of antibiotic resistance between dogs and owners isolates. Furthermore, the antibiotic-resistance profile was the same in the E. coli isolates of 14.3% of dog-owner pairs. CONCLUSIONS: The results of current research highlight the seriousness of the drug-resistance problem and the need to prevent further increases and spread of antibiotic-resistance to reduce treatment failure. Moreover, relatively similar characteristics of the E. coli isolates of dogs and their owners can show the risk of sharing resistant bacteria and/or resistance elements between them.