Characterising the taxonomic composition of children and livestock gut microbiomes and of environmental samples and the potential role for household-level microbiome sharing in western Kenya

Background Humans and animals living in close proximity may share microbiome constituents at the household level because of daily domestic contact. Such sharing could affect enteric and metabolic functions of the gut microbiome of humans and livestock living in such households. We sought to characterise the microbiome of children, cattle, chickens, and environmental surfaces within households in western Kenya to determine the degree of microbiome sharing.