Swiss scientists compared the microbial load of men’s beards and dogs’ fur to find out if humans were at risk of contracting a dog-borne disease from an MRI scanner also used by vets. Sorry, gents (including those hirsute MLB players), but facial hair turned out to be considerably more germy than canine “furnishings.” Comparing the results from 18 men and 30 dogs, they found that all the beard samples had high microbial counts—and seven were found to harbor microbes that posed a threat to human health—while only 23 dogs had high counts, with the remainder clocking in at moderate levels.
In an interview with the BBC the study's author Andreas Gutzeit said “On the basis of these findings, dogs can be considered as clean, compared with bearded men.”
So, while dogs are no risk to humans if they use the same MRI, watch out bearded men.
via Whisker Therapy