Dog owners are being warned not to share beds with their pets to stop the spread of an untreatable superbug.
A certain gene is believed to be able to transfer from animals to humans and it could be transmitted from our canine friends to their owners.
Known as the mcr-1 gene, it's already supposed to have killed an estimate of 700,000 people a year globally.
It was first identified in 2015 in China and predicted to kill 10 million a year by 2050 if nothing is done in time.
The gene is found in the gut and can be transported through microscopic fecal particles.
Scientists warn of an impending disaster if humans continue to contract the bug, as it's known to develop resistance to life-saving drugs, the Daily Record reports.
As a result, experts are urging people not to share beds with any pet dogs harbouring mcr-1 to avoid spreading the superbug any further.
Dog baskets are also thought to be a high-risk area due to frequent contact with humans.
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The mcr-1 gene is resistant to colistin, an antibiotic often used to defeat particularly resilient.
Scientists have warned for years that using colistin too much, especially on meat-producing animals, risks the rise of mutant genes that could make the drug useless.
A study at the University of Lisbon discovered that in two of the households where dogs had tissue infections, the mcr-1 gene was present in both the dog and owner.
Fecal samples were also taken from 126 healthy people living with 102 cats and dogs across 80 households over the two years up to February 2020.
Results confirmed that eight of the dogs and four humans were found to be harbouring bacteria that contained mcr-1.
Three of the dogs were perfectly healthy otherwise, while the others had tissue or urinary tract infections.
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The study was presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases conference this weekend.
Experts said that agricultural regions where colistin is used a lot, particularly southern European countries, will be less likely to contract the mcr-1 gene.
According to Dr Juliana Menezes, who led the research, “colistin is used when all other antibiotics have failed, it is a crucial treatment of last resort.
“If bacteria resistant to all drugs acquire this resistance gene, they would become untreatable, and that’s a scenario we must avoid at all costs.
“We know that the overuse of antibiotics drives resistance and it is vital that they are used responsibly, not just in medicine but also in veterinary medicine and in farming.”
