Transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms between hospital patients and their pets

Carriage of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in humans constitutes an important public health concern. Cross-transmission of bacteria between animals and humans has been demonstrated before.Our aim was to quantify the risk factor pet ownership for MDRO colonisation in hospital patients.We performed a matched case-control study from 2019 to 2022 in Berlin, Germany and compared MDRO-positive and MDRO-negative patients in terms of contact with to pets and other risk factors for MDRO acquisition. Pet owners provided swab samples from their nose and rectum as well as from the throat and stool of their pets (dogs and cats). Phenotypically matching samples of owners and pets were analysed via whole genome sequencing.