DOG owners are being warned not to let their canine companions into bed as a potential killer bug spreads.

This "untreatable superbug" is the mcr-1 gene and it's passed from animals to humans through microscopic faecal particles.

The mcr-1 gene makes bacteria resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic used to treat infections when all else has failed.

The CDC said:  "Bacteria will inevitably find ways of resisting the antibiotics developed by humans.

"This is why it is more important than ever to slow the spread of resistance by following infection control measures for every patient"

If there is an increase in bacteria that are resistant to all antibiotics it will lead to many untreatable infections and ultimately more deaths.

If infection rates do not slow down it's predicted there will be 10 million deaths per year by 2050 from drug-resistant infections.

It was first detected in China in 2015 and in the US the following year.

The University of Libson examined 126 healthy people from 80 households who lived with 102 cats and dogs for two years.

They discovered eight dogs and four owners had the mcr-1 gene in their body, and also revealed all but three dogs had tissue or urinary tract infections.

Dr Juliana Menezes, who led the research, said: “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.”

Experts told attendees at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Conference that agricultural regions particularly in southern Europe that use colistin will be less likely to contract the mcr-1 gene.

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