An exploratory study of bacterial contamination on communal mobile handheld devices in an animal referral hospital in the United Kingdom

Aims To determine the bacterial contamination rate of communal mobile handheld devices (MHD) used in a small animal referral hospital before and after cleaning with commercially available antibacterial wipes, and then after 24 hours of use.Methods All 18 communal MHD at a small animal emergency referral hospital were swabbed following a standardised protocol at three time points: before cleaning (swab 1), immediately after cleaning (swab 2), and after 24 hours of hospital-wide use (swab 3) to assess re-contamination rates. All swabs were sent to an external commercial laboratory for aerobic bacterial culture and species identification, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and S. pseudintermedius (MRSP). Results were reported as the presence or absence of the organisms isolated but not quantified. Differences in rates of bacterial contamination before and after cleaning were assessed using Cochran's Q test and Fisher's exact test.Results Swabs at swab session 1 showed 16/18 (88.9 (95% CI = 67.2–96.9)%) MHD to be contaminated: 6/18 (33.3 (95% CI = 10.9–55.7)%) with coliform bacteria, 5/18 (22.8 (95% CI = 6.5–49.1)%) with Bacillus spp. and 5/18 (22.8 (95% CI = 6.5–49.1)%) with coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). No MRSA or MRSP were identified. Immediately after cleaning, contamination was found on 1/18 (5.6 (95% CI = 0–16.5)%) devices. After 24 hours, 12/18 (66.7 (95% CI = 43.7–83.7)%) devices were contaminated, with coliform bacteria on 11/18 (61.1 (95% CI = 37.9–84.3)%) and CNS on 1/18 (5.6 (95% CI 0–16.4)%); no Bacillus spp. were identified. Significant differences in contamination rates were observed across the three time points (p < 0.001). The recontamination rate was 68.8%, with a rebound rate of 70.6% among culture-negative MHD.Conclusions Communal MHD in this study were frequently contaminated, particularly with coliforms. Cleaning was associated with a marked, short-term reduction in detectable bacteria, but re-contamination rates following 24 hours of normal use were high.Clinical relevance The high colonisation rate of bacteria on MHD suggests that regular cleaning protocols are required to minimise potential bacterial spread to personnel and patients, particularly given the high rate of re-contamination 24 hours after cleaning. Further studies are required to ascertain whether the source of contamination was human or animal, and whether it leads to transmission of disease and constitutes a health risk to patients.