The Trojan Chicken study, Minnesota.
We conducted a study in the summer of 2004 at county fairs in the Midwest to investigate the role poultry exhibits have in spreading avian pathogens to humans. A nearly invisible powder (pathogen surrogate) that fluoresces under UV light was surreptitiously sprinkled each day on 1 show bird at each of 2 fairs. A UV light box was used to daily examine the hands of 94 poultry-exhibit participants (blinded regarding UV box results) for up to 4 days during the poultry shows. Enrollment and end-of-study questionnaires collected data on pathogen risk factors. Eight (8.5%) of 94 participants had evidence of fluorescent powder contamination (95% confidence interval 2.76%-14.26%). This contamination and infrequent handwashing practices suggest that county fairs are a possible venue for animal-to-human pathogen transmission.
Olson
Sandra R
SR
University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. olson@episense.wisc.edu
Gray
Gregory C
GC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000635:transmission*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015047:Zoonoses