Pandemic influenza and farmworkers: the effects of employment, social, and economic factors.
Employment, social, and economic factors have the potential to affect the magnitude of an influenza pandemic among farmworkers. Prevention efforts targeted toward livestock farmworkers, including increased access to seasonal influenza vaccine, risk reduction training, various forms of personal protection, and workplace sanitation, are needed. Crop and livestock farmworkers are at increased risk of exposure to influenza A viruses because of limited resources, substandard housing, immigration status, communication and cultural barriers, and discrimination. Recommendations were gathered from migrant clinicians, farmworker advocates, state and federal government agencies, industry stakeholders, and researchers to overcome these barriers, including surveillance of livestock farmworkers, inclusion of farmworker service organizations in planning efforts, and separation of immigration enforcement from emergency assistance.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA. asteege@cdc.gov
Andrea L
AL
Steege
Sherry
S
Baron
Shelley
S
Davis
Judith
J
Torres-Kilgore
Marie Haring
MH
Sweeney
D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D005585:Influenza in Birds; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D011200:Poultry; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D035862:Vulnerable Populations