Raw dog food ‘may be fuelling spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria’

Antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” – which the World Health Organization calls one of the top global threats to public health – usually conjure images of hospital settings. But research may point to a less-obvious source: the family dog.

Researchers warned of “an international public health risk” after finding antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a range of different types of raw dog food.

“The trend for feeding dogs raw food may be fuelling the spread of antibiotic resistant-bacteria”, the researchers said in a press release for their study, to be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.