Epidemiology of multi-drug resistant staphylococci in pets and people

The human relationship with cats and dogs has been suggested to be of potential concern to public health because of the possible role of pets as reservoir of antibiotic resistant microorganisms. Pets are increasingly used to assist therapy in nursing homes and the interaction between cats, dogs and their owners in the household has become very close. Thus, public health would benefit by investigating this issue with a “One Health” approach. “One Health” is a conceptual thinking that promote interdisciplinary cooperation between human and animal health. Here I suggest the “One Health” interdisciplinary approach to be helpful towards the understanding of the role of pets in antibiotic resistance spreading, considering also the socio-emotional context of the human-pet relationship.