Respiratory morbidity in relationship to farm characteristics in swine confinement work: Possible preventive measures

Abstract

Swine confinement farming is associated with an increased risk of respiratory morbidity. Adverse health effects have been shown in association with levels of dust, endotoxins, and ammonia. This study was conducted to evaluate characteristics of confinement farms associated with respiratory morbidity in order to establish priorities for preventive measures. A questionnaire on symptoms and farm characteristics was completed by 1,432 male swine confinement farmers. Of these, 200 with and 200 without chronic respiratory symptoms were randomly selected for lung function testing. A significantly increased risk for chronic respiratory symptoms was shown if farmers used wood‐shavings as bedding (prevalent odds ratio [POR] 2.2), used disinfectants (POR 1.7), used natural ventilation (POR 2.6), had floor types other than slatted or half‐slatted (POR 2.1), or used a mechanical feeding system (POR 1.4). Lung function (FEV1) was significantly lower with increasing numbers of years worked (51 ml/10 years), with smaller numbers of pigs (8.5 mV100 pigs), and when the air outlet of the ventilation system was via the pit (248 ml). To decrease the risk of respirator morbidity the following preventive measures are proposed: discouragement of the use of disinfectants and of wood‐shavings as bedding, and promotion of the use of mechanical ventilation systems. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss. Inc.

An algorithm for quantitatively estimating occupational endotoxin exposure in the Biomarkers of Exposure and Effect in Agriculture (BEEA) study: I. Development of task‐specific exposure levels from published data

“…In large studies, it is rarely feasible to collect multiple measurements per participant over time to capture exposure variability. As such, potential surrogates of endotoxin exposure that can be captured via questionnaire have been used, such as number of livestock or poultry 6–8 . The development of quantitative exposure estimates that account for the variability of tasks, and their subject‐specific duration, is an important first step in quantifying health risks associated with endotoxin exposure in agricultural environments.…”

The association between farm-level antimicrobial usage and resistance of Staphylococcus spp., as the major genus isolated from aerosol samples, in Japanese piggeries

“…This phenomenon increases the risk of various opportunistic infections, unless ventilation is appropriately managed. Moreover, pig house farmers are at higher risk of respiratory diseases than chicken, cattle, or sheep farmers ( 6 , 7 ).…”