A study published in Vet Record has identified the presence of gram‑negative ESKAPE bacteria—a group considered an emerging threat in veterinary medicine and with zoonotic potential—in commercially available raw‑meat diets for dogs in the United Kingdom. Although the finding was incidental, the results point to risks that extend beyond animal nutrition.
Researchers analysed 110 samples of frozen raw diets using bacterial culture, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and whole‑genome sequencing. They isolated Acinetobacter baumannii (eight samples), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10 samples) and Enterobacter species (four samples). Several isolates showed resistance to critically important antibiotics, including meropenem in the case of P. aeruginosa, and acquired resistance genes were identified.
Although the authors acknowledge that the microbiological methods used may not have been optimal for detecting all gram‑negative ESKAPE organisms, the overall findings are consistent: raw diets can act as a vehicle for multidrug‑resistant bacteria, with implications for animals, humans and the environment.
The study concludes that these results reinforce the need to assess the One Health risks associated with feeding dogs raw‑meat diets.
Read the full study here: Isolation of carbapenem‐resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other Gram‐negative ESKAPE organisms from samples of raw‐meat diets for dogs in the UK – Morgan – Veterinary Record – Wiley Online Library
