KEY POINTS:
Dog owners have little to fear from a sloppy lick on the face from their pooches.
In fact, a study shows it's humans who are passing on their germs to their four-legged friends.
The US study found owners who share their beds with their dogs and allow licks on the face do not have an increased risk of getting doggie germs.
Dr Kate Stenske, of the University of Tennessee, was tasked with testing the faeces of owners and their dogs for matching E. Coli, a common bacteria found in the gastrointestinal tract.
She found there was no increase in owners who allowed licks on the face, compared with owners who took a more arms-length approach.
"People have it (E. Coli), dogs have it, and it normally doesn't cause problems," Dr Stenske said. "But it can acquire genes to make it antibiotic resistant."
Dr Stenske found 10 per cent of dog-human pairs shared the same E. coli strains. She also found the E. coli had more resistance to common antibiotics than expected, although owners had more multiple-drug resistant strains than their pets.
"This make us think that dogs are not likely to spread multiple drug-resistant E. coli to their owners, but perhaps owners may spread them to their dogs."
While the research showed face licking resulted in no increase in shared E. Coli, Dr Stenske said there was an increase in owners who reported not washing their hands after petting their dog, or before cooking a meal.
She urged owners should apply commonsense and good hygiene practices to keep germ transmission under control.
Her research is to be published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research.
- AAP
