Pet therapy & human pathogens: Bad combo

A study by Dr. Scott Weese, a specialist in veterinary nosocomial infections at the Ontario Veterinary College, evaluated 26 pet therapy dogs to determine whether contamination with human pathogens occurs when the animals are brought to healthcare facilities. He found that two of the dogs became contaminated--one dog had contamation of the paws with C. difficile and the other had contamination of the fur with MRSA. This raises the question of whether the dogs should be bathed after contact with patients in healthcare facilities.