Factors That Might Affect SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Among Foreign-Born and U.S.-Born Poultry Facility Workers — Maryland, May 2020

Rubenstein, Beth L.; Campbell, Stefanie; Meyers, Alysha R.; Crum, David A.; Mitchell, Clifford S.; Hutson, Jeré; Williams, D’Ann L.; Senesie, Schabbethai S; Gilani, Zunera; Reynolds, Steven; Alba, Bianca; Tavitian, Stephanie; Billings, Kristian; Saintus, Lina; Martin, Stephen B.; Mainzer, Hugh M.

doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6950a5

Cited by 20 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…As regards the peri-work environment, 67.3% of the cases among Eastern European workers reported carpooling or sharing accommodation, compared with 39.7% of the other cases. Similar practices among foreign-born workers have also been reported in the US poultry industry: workers were almost twice as likely to carpool (OR = 1.9) and share accommodation 6 times more (Rubenstein et al, 2020 ). The poor command in French, observed by the contact-tracing teams, could partly explain risky practices: partial understanding of health issues, barrier gestures and distancing measures.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Identification of Workers at Increased Risk of Infection During a COVID-19 Outbreak in a Meat Processing Plant, France, May 2020

et al. 2021

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On 13 May 2020, a COVID-19 cluster was detected in a French processing plant. Infected workers were described. The associations between the SARS-CoV-2 infection and the socio-demographic and occupational characteristics were assessed in order to implement risk management measures targeting workers at increased risk of contamination. Workers were tested by RT-PCR from samples taken during screening campaigns. Workers who tested positive were isolated and their contacts were quarantined. Workers were described and associations with the SARS-CoV-2 infection were assessed through risk ratios using multivariable Poisson regression. Of the 1347 workers, 87.5% were tested: 140 cases were identified; 4 were hospitalised, including 2 admitted to intensive care. In the company, the cluster remained limited to deboning and cutting activities. The attack rate was 11.9% in the company, reaching 16.6% in the cutting department. Being an employee of a subcontractor significantly increased the risk of infection by 2.98 [1.81–4.99]. In the cutting department, an association with virus infection was found for a group of non-French speaking workers from the same Eastern European country (RR = 2.67 [1.76–4.05]). They shared accommodation or carpooled more frequently than the other cases. The outbreak investigation revealed a significantly increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection for workers of subcontractors and some foreign-born workers. There are many such populations in meat processing plants; the observed associations and the ways in which these workers are contaminated need to be confirmed by further work. Prevention campaigns should now target these workers. Environmental risk factors in the workplace setting remain to be clarified.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Identification of Workers at Increased Risk of Infection During a COVID-19 Outbreak in a Meat Processing Plant, France, May 2020

et al. 2021

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“…In comparison, at distances 2m and beyond, the viral load shifted to aerosol and fomite-mediated transmission. However, their absolute dose contribution (aerosol viral load: 7.0, 95% CI: [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]; fomitemediated viral load: 44, 95% CI: ) remained 91-99% lower than droplet-mediated transmission at 1m, and absolute risk from all pathways combined was far lower than risk at 1m. Among the individual interventions, physical distancing (2m and beyond) and mask use resulted in the largest risk reductions to a food worker.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Assuming a symptomatic infected worker (cough frequency ranged from 10-39 coughs per hour [63,109]), we investigated the relative contribution of each transmission route (aerosol, droplet, fomite) by the distance travelled for each size class of expelled infectious particles for 1h and cumulative 8h exposures (Table 1). At 8h exposure and 1m distance between the infected and susceptible individuals, droplets (≥ 50µm) contributed 90% (absolute number: 478, 95% CI: [156-1,460]) of the infectious viral load, followed by aerosols (< 50µm) contributing 1.3% (absolute number: 7.0, 95% CI: [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]) and the remaining 8.3% of the infectious virus load coming from droplet and aerosol fall-out onto fomites (absolute number: 44, 95% CI: ). At 2 and 3m, the relative contribution of each transmission route to infectious virus load shifted to favor aerosols (31-59%) and fomites (25-48%), although the fomite and aerosol absolute viral load at 2 and 3m (3-11 PFUs) was 91-99% lower than the droplet absolute viral load at 1m (478 PFU).…”

Section: Relative Contribution Of Sars-cov-2 Transmission Routes In Enclosed Food Manufacturing Facilities With a Coughing Infected Workementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a survey of essential workers in California, the highest excess mortality increase (39%) was among food and agriculture workers (3). Distinctive food production and processing occupational hazards may increase SARS-CoV-2 transmission, including inadequate physical distancing (<2m), shared workspaces, and extended exposure durations (8-12 hour shifts) (2,4). Protecting the health and safety of food workers is paramount for maintaining global food supply chains and consumer food security (5).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Controlling risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in essential workers of enclosed food manufacturing facilities

Sobolik

Sajewski

Jaykus

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic poses significant health risks to workers who are essential to maintaining the food supply chain. Using a quantitative risk assessment model, this study characterized the impact of risk reduction strategies for controlling SARS-CoV-2 transmission (droplet, aerosol, fomite-mediated) among front-line workers in a representative enclosed food manufacturing facility. We simulated: 1) individual and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infection risks from close contact (droplet and aerosols at 1-3m), aerosol, and fomite-mediated exposures to a susceptible worker following exposure to an infected worker during an 8h-shift; and 2) the relative reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infection risk attributed to infection control interventions (physical distancing, mask use, ventilation, surface disinfection, hand hygiene). Without mitigation measures, the SARS-CoV-2 infection risk was largest for close contact (droplet and aerosol) at 1m (0.96, 95%CI: 0.67-1.0). In comparison, risk associated with fomite (0.26, 95%CI: 0.10-0.56) or aerosol exposure alone (0.05, 95%CI: 0.01-0.13) at 1m distance was substantially lower (73-95%). At 1m, droplet transmission predominated over aerosol and fomite-mediated transmission, however, this changed by 3m, with aerosols comprising the majority of the exposure dose. Increasing physical distancing reduced risk by 84% (1 to 2m) and 91% (1 to 3m). Universal mask use reduced infection risk by 52-88%, depending on mask type. Increasing ventilation (from 0.1 to 2-8 air changes/hour) resulted in risk reductions of 14-54% (1m) and 55-85% (2m). Combining these strategies, together with handwashing and surface disinfection, resulted in <1% infection risk. Current industry SARS-CoV-2 risk reduction strategies, particularly when bundled, provide significant protection to essential food workers.

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“…Decontextualizing healthcare workers' COVID-19 experiences, this study maintained the discourse of biomedical risk factors and personal responsibility for health. In contrast, Rubenstein and colleagues ( 2020 ) distinguished structural factors (e.g., job tasks, housing arrangements, transportation options) from behavioral factors (e.g., social gathering, use of masks), both relevant to COVID transmission. In their sample of poultry processing workers, foreign-born workers were less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors but more likely to experience high-risk structural factors both inside and outside of the workplace (e.g., physical proximity with coworkers, crowded housing, and shared rides to work).…”

Section: How Social Institutions Can Change To Support Population Health and Health Equitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociopolitical values and social institutions: Studying work and health equity through the lens of political economy

Fujishiro

Ahonen

Gimeno

et al. 2021

SSM - Population Health

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Work contributes to health and health inequity in complex ways. The traditional exposure-disease framework used in occupational health research is not equipped to address societal contexts in which work is embedded. The political economy approach to public health directly examines macro-level societal contexts, but the attention to work in this literature is mostly on unemployment. As a result, we have limited understanding of work as a social determinant of health and health inequity. To fill this gap, we propose a conceptual framework that facilitates research on work, health, and health equity in institutional contexts. As an illustration of different social institutions creating different work-related health, we present characteristics of work and health in the United States and the European Union using the 2015 Working Conditions Surveys data. The results also highlight limitations of the traditional exposure-disease approach used in occupational health research. Applying the proposed framework, we discuss how work and health could be investigated from a broader perspective that involves multiple social institutions and the sociopolitical values that underpin them. Such investigations would inform policy interventions that are congruent with existing social institutions and thus have the potential for being adopted and effective. Further, we clarify the role of research in generating knowledge that would contribute to institutional change in support of population health and health equity.

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Factors That Might Affect SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Among Foreign-Born and U.S.-Born Poultry Facility Workers — Maryland, May 2020

Cited by 20 publications

References 7 publications

Identification of Workers at Increased Risk of Infection During a COVID-19 Outbreak in a Meat Processing Plant, France, May 2020

Identification of Workers at Increased Risk of Infection During a COVID-19 Outbreak in a Meat Processing Plant, France, May 2020

Controlling risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in essential workers of enclosed food manufacturing facilities

Sociopolitical values and social institutions: Studying work and health equity through the lens of political economy

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