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The AVMA has issued a backgrounder on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that incorporates recent research into the colonization of therapy dogs that visit health care environments as part of animal-assisted intervention programs (AAIs). One study cited indicates that dogs that participated in health-care AAIs were six times as likely to become colonized with MRSA than dogs in non-health-care-related AAIs.
The MRSA backgrounder includes guidelines for AAIs in health care settings.