A new collaboration between the Centre and the Royal Cornwall Hospital has provided fresh insights into the prevalence of an infection normally associated with dog bites.

Through the provision of DNA analysis, the Centre’s experts in microbiology worked closely with specialists at the Royal Cornwall Hospital to examine samples of the emerging human pathogen Staphylococcus pseudintermedius.

A close cousin of the more familiar Staphylococcus aureus of (MRSA fame), S. pseudintermedius is associated with animals – particularly pet dogs – and has been linked to infections following dog bites.

However, this latest analysis has found that S. pseudintermedius is far more common than previously thought and that dog bites form just a small portion of human infection cases.

A team from the Royal Cornwall Hospital will present their findings at the 24th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona in May.