Antibiotic resistance affects domestic animals.
They can be infected in a number of ways:
- through contact with an animal carrying resistant bacteria
- through contact with their owner, who may be a carrier of the bacteria
- during treatment at a veterinary practice due to inadequate preventive measures
- through the environment
The reverse is also true… an animal carrying resistant bacteria can infect their owner.
Furthermore, administering antibiotics to an animal can also lead to the development of resistant bacteria in its microbiota.
Veterinary personnel and animal care workers are therefore at risk if the correct hygiene measures are not implemented.
Solutions exist
Prescribing the right antibiotics
Veterinary surgeons should only prescribe a course of antibiotics following a thorough examination and a clear diagnosis, detailing the right dose and the right duration of treatment. In veterinary medicine, prescribing antibiotics is strictly regulated, particularly with regard to so-called ‘critically important’ antibiotics, for which an antibiogram must be carried out before a prescription can be issued.
Preventing infections
Animal owners should be given advice about…
- basic hygiene practices for living safely and healthily with their animal
- the importance of avoiding contact with a sick animal
- the need to vaccinate their animal
- the danger of administering medication to their animal without having first sought advice from a veterinary surgeon