If you’re a dog owner whose four legged friend loves to lick your hands then you might want to put a stop to that behaviour, pronto.
Because new research has just linked dogs to urinary tract infections (UTIs) – and it’s all down to bacteria that your pooch may be harbouring…
A team from the University of Copenhagen looked at over 100 patients being treated for a UTI in hospital, 19 of whom were pet owners.
And, after analysing swabs, the scientists found that the bacteria which commonly causes the infection, E.coli, was present in their dogs’ faeces…
Although this was only found to be the case with two participants, study author Dr Peter Damborg advised owners to avoid being licked by their pets.
Speaking to New Scientist about the research, which has been published in the journal bioRxiv, Dr Damborg said: ‘I think that people in general should take precautions when in contact with their pets.
‘If someone has a compromised immune system, then this point is even more important as they are more at risk for infections.’
