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Risk of infection and associated influenza-like disease among abattoir workers due to two Leptospira species

  • A. DREYFUS (a1) (a2), C. HEUER (a1), P. WILSON (a3), J. COLLINS-EMERSON (a3), M. G. BAKER (a4) and J. BENSCHOP (a3)...

Summary

The aims of this study were to determine the annual incidence of infection with Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona and/or Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo and its association with influenza-like illness (ILI) in meat workers in New Zealand. Sera were collected twice, 50–61 weeks apart, from 592 workers at eight abattoirs slaughtering sheep (n = 4), cattle (n = 2) and deer (n = 2), and tested by the microscopic agglutination test for Hardjo and Pomona. Forty-nine (8·3%) participants either seroconverted or had at least a twofold increased serological titre against either serovar. The worker infection risk was higher in sheep abattoirs (11·9%) than in abattoirs processing deer (0%) or cattle (1·2%) (P < 0·01). The annualized risk of mild (ILI) or severe clinical disease attributable to the two Leptospira serovars was 2·7%. This study has demonstrated that meat workers are at substantial risk of infection and clinical disease, suggesting further investigation of infection sources and preventive measures are warranted.

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Copyright

COPYRIGHT: © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Corresponding author

* Author for correspondence: Miss A. Dreyfus, Section of Epidemiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 270, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. (Email: adreyfus@vetclinics.uzh.ch)

References

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  • Cited by 9

  • Access

Risk of infection and associated influenza-like disease among abattoir workers due to two Leptospira species

  • A. DREYFUS (a1) (a2), C. HEUER (a1), P. WILSON (a3), J. COLLINS-EMERSON (a3), M. G. BAKER (a4) and J. BENSCHOP (a3)...

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