Dogs have been found to harbor dangerous pathogens that public health experts fear could pose a threat to humans.
A new CDC report released Wednesday identified two New Jersey dogs, a golden retriever and a cocker spaniel, that became infected in the spring of 2023 with an antibiotic-resistant bacteria similar to a pathogen that had previously caused an outbreak in 81 people that same year.
The bacteria in the outbreak were similar but not identical, and public health officials still don’t know how the dogs became infected.
The dogs were treated at a veterinary center, where they are believed to have contracted the pathogen.
The pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria that infected them is resistant to many antibiotics, making it especially concerning as infections become more difficult to treat.
The second CDC report detailed a similar outbreak in dogs of a fungal infection in Wisconsin from 2022. While the infection did not jump from dogs to people, five people and six dogs became ill from breathing fungal spores in the same general area.
The fungus, Blastomyces, infects a person or dog when they breathe in spores that settle on soil and leaves and explode into the air when disturbed. Direct transmission from dogs to humans is extremely rare.
Instead, experts fear that areas where dogs are exposed, such as walks in the woods, will also expose the dog’s owners, which could make them sick with blastomycosis as well.
A golden retriever and a cocker spaniel were infected with bacteria after being treated at a veterinary hospital. The type of bacteria was similar to the one that caused an outbreak in 2022
In the first study of the CDC’s latest collection, they detailed two cases of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in New Jersey in March and June 2023.
The first was in a seven-year-old golden retriever who had been suffering from a chronic cough for months. The second was a six-year-old cocker spaniel. Both were treated at the same veterinary hospital.
The bacteria isolated from the dogs were very similar to bacteria found in a multi-state human outbreak linked to contaminated artificial tears.
Neither dog owners nor household members reported any exposure to ophthalmic products related to the outbreak since March 2022.
However, the second dog was being treated with a different over-the-counter artificial tear solution that may have been harboring the virus.
A subsequent inspection by the New Jersey Department of Health found lax hand hygiene standards, PPE protocol, and cleaning and disinfection procedures at the veterinary hospital.
The outbreak linked to artificial tears sickened 81 people and killed four in 18 states, but the two dogs were the only animal cases identified.
Pseudomonas infection can affect the skin, blood, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and other parts of the body.
Pseudomonas infections can range from minor problemssuch as swimmer’s ear and hot tub rash, to serious, life-threatening conditions, especially in people who are already weak or ill.
Symptoms depend on the site of infection, with possible signs including blue-green pus in wounds, ear pain from swimmer’s ear, cough from pneumonia, or fever and fatigue from a systemic infection. If the infection spreads to the bloodstream, it can cause high fever, chills, confusion, and shock.
Blastomyces, which infects about 6,700 Americans and kills 60 each year, causes a lung infection that can cause fever, cough, chest pain, fatigue and night sweats.
In Wisconsin, a 2022 outbreak of blastomycosis, caused by the Blastomyces fungus, infected four people and five dogs in St Croix County.
The latest CDC report found the numbers rose to five human cases, with two hospitalizations and one death. Most patients had underlying health problems and reported symptoms such as cough, fatigue and fever.
Six canine cases were confirmed, with symptoms such as lethargy, loss of appetite and breathing difficulties. Sporting breeds seemed more affected.
The CDC report said: ‘The at-risk population was defined as people living within a 1.5-mile diameter of where the human and canine cases occurred (in St Croix County).
“Although we could not identify a definitive exposure as the probable cause of this cluster, several sites, such as the riverbank, riverside paths or patios, or construction dust, could have been plausible sources of Blastomyces spores.
‘Dogs that walked on trails, specifically those that walked off-leash, had a higher prevalence of antibodies compared to dogs that did not. Dogs that lived closer to the river had a higher prevalence of antibodies.’
Blastomyces, which infects about 6,700 Americans and kills 60 each year, causes a lung infection that can cause fever, cough, chest pain, fatigue and night sweats.
In severe cases, the spores can spread from the lungs to other parts of the body, including bones, joints, and even the brain and spinal cord.