Aerial pollutants in confined animal houses are widely recognized as detrimental to the respiratory health of animals kept in these facilities. Primary and opportunistic microbial pathogens may directly cause infectious and allergic diseases in farm animals, and chronic exposure to some types of aerial pollutants may exacerbate multi-factorial environmental diseases. There are, however, few int...

BACKGROUND Tractor overturns kill an average of 100 farmers and farm workers per year. Roll-over protective structures (ROPS) are a proven intervention, but are not on a sufficient number of tractors in the US to reduce these deaths. Little has been reported on ROPS use by racial minority farm operators. METHODS Data from the NIOSH OISPA survey were used to assess ROPS prevalence rates from a...

In recent years, extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) producing bacteria have been found in livestock, mainly as asymptomatic colonizers. The zoonotic risk for people working in close contact to animal husbandry has still not been completely assessed. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence of ESBL-producing Escherichia spp. in livestock animals and workers to determine the potential risk fo...

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were to assess the knowledge and practices associated with pesticide use in an agricultural community in Palestine, and to determine the prevalence of self-reported health symptoms related to pesticide exposure. METHODS In this cross-sectional questionnaire study, agricultural farm workers in Nablus district, Palestine, were interviewed on their knowled...

Resumen A needs assessment among the migrant farm workers on the US/Mexico border of El Paso, Texas was conducted as part of the Migrant Border Health Initiative. Based on the survey results, recommendations for potential health education programs were provided to the undergraduate community health students at The University of Texas at El Paso. These students directly applied the principles th...

Pesticides, such as parathion, are metabolized by cytochrome p-450 system to paraoxon, which is a potent cholinesterase inhibitor. Paraoxonase (PON) catalyzes the hydrolysis of these toxic metabolites and protects against pesticide toxicity. A glutamine/arginine (Gln/Arg) polymorphism at amino acid position 192 of PON has been described. The Arg/Arg genotype is associated with higher serum para...

OBJECTIVES To assess the physical strains of employees in the German offshore wind industry, according to job type and phase of the wind farm (under construction or operation). DESIGN Web-based cross-sectional survey. SETTING Offshore wind farm companies operating within the German exclusive economic zone. PARTICIPANTS Male workers with regular offshore commitments and at least 28 days sp...

The maintenance of low-intensity farming is important for the conservation of habitats and species and is a particular issue in Europe as areas under extensive farming regimes continue to diminish. Current proposals for agricultural reform in Europe are seeking to retain and encourage extensive farming partly by seeking to redirect farm workers into non-farm activities such as leisure activitie...

BACKGROUND Human tuberculosis caused by M. bovis is a zoonosis presently considered sporadic in developed countries, but remains a poorly studied problem in low and middle resource countries. The disease in humans is mainly attributed to unpasteurized dairy products consumption. However, transmission due to exposure of humans to infected animals has been also recognized. The prevalence of tuber...