Journal article
Bovine Tuberculosis Case Intervention Using the T.SPOT.TB Assay to Screen Dairy Workers in Bailey County, Texas
Frontiers in public health, Vol.8, pp.479-479
09/02/2020
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00479
PMCID: PMC7493632
PMID: 32984254
Abstract
Background:
One potential exposure on a dairy farm is
Mycobacterium bovis
or bovine tuberculosis (bTB)—an infectious zoonotic pathogen. The prevalence of tuberculosis among dairy workers in the U.S. is unknown largely due to insufficient surveillance and testing practices. Our objective was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of LTBI among dairy workers potentially exposed to cattle infected with bTB in two Bailey County, Texas dairy farms in 2016.
Methods:
This study involved a secondary analysis of data that were collected by Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Public Health Region 1 (PHR 1). A total of 140 dairy workers were tested using the T.SPOT.
TB
test assay. As a proxy for occupational exposures, we used three categories of cattle exposure groups based on work task, duration, and conditions of exposure to cattle—high, medium, low.
Results:
Positive LTBI was found among 14/140 (10.0%) of the dairy workers tested with 12/87 (13.8%) in Dairy A and 2/53 (3.8%) in Dairy B. All LTBI cases were determined to be from Hispanic workers with 71.4% indicating having been vaccinated with the BCG vaccine in their country of birth and none indicated previously known exposure to TB. The high category of cattle exposure group experienced the highest prevalence of LTBI (64.3%), followed by the medium cattle exposure group (28.6%), and the low cattle exposure group (7.1%).
Conclusion:
Our findings suggest that the prevalence of LTBI among dairy workers in Bailey County, Texas is higher than demographically comparable workforces. Future efforts should focus on the development, delivery, and evaluation of a tuberculosis—and other zoonotic diseases—health and safety training which can become a part of a more comprehensive safety management and training program on dairy farms.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Bovine Tuberculosis Case Intervention Using the T.SPOT.TB Assay to Screen Dairy Workers in Bailey County, Texas
- Creators
- Anabel Rodriguez - Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science CenterDavid Douphrate - Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science CenterDavid Gimeno Ruiz de Porras - Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science CenterEmilie Prot - Regional Medical Director, Texas Department of State Health ServicesAdriana Perez - Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science CenterRobert Hagevoort - Department of Agricultural Science Center at Clovis, College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State UniversityMatthew Nonnenmann - Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, The University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in public health, Vol.8, pp.479-479
- DOI
- 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00479
- PMID
- 32984254
- PMCID
- PMC7493632
- NLM abbreviation
- Front Public Health
- ISSN
- 2296-2565
- eISSN
- 2296-2565
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media S.A
- Grant note
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 09/02/2020
- Academic Unit
- Occupational and Environmental Health; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984066111702771
Metrics
22 Record Views