A National Survey of Laboratory Animal Workers Concerning Occupational Risks for Zoonotic Diseases

摘要

Inthiscross-sectionalsurveyoflaboratoryanimalworkersintheUnitedStates,23of1367personsreported28casesofinfectionwithzoonoticagentsfromresearchanimalsattheirworkplaceduringthepast5years,withsixpersonsindicatingthattheirinfectionsweremedicallyconfirmed.Basedonthesedata,theannualizedincidencerateforwork-relatedtransmissionofzoonoticagentsfromlaboratoryanimalswas45casesper10,000worker-yearsatrisk(95%confidenceinterval,30to65cases),approximatingtheratefornonfataloccupationalillnessesintheagriculturalproduction-livestockindustryandforthoseemployedinthehealthservicesduring2002.Logisticregressionanalysisfoundvariouscharacteristicsofpersonsandtheiremployersthatweresignificantlyassociatedwiththelikelihoodofhavingbeenmedicallyevaluatedforexposuretoazoonoticagentfromlaboratoryanimals.Most(95.5%±1.1%)personsworkingwithlaboratoryanimalsortheirtissuesindicatedthattheyknewwhomtotalktoattheirinstitutionformedicalevaluationandcareshouldtheybeconcernedaboutthepossibilityofanoccupationallyacquiredzoonoticdiseaseinfuture.However,occupationalillnessesandexposuresamonglaboratoryanimalworkerswasunderreported,as10ofthe28(36%)allegedzoonoticdiseasecaseswerenotcommunicatedtotheemployee'ssupervisor.Lackofconcernaboutthepotentialsignificancetotheirhealthandtheperceptionofpunitiveconsequencestotheemployeeweresomeofthereasonscitedforunderreporting,anissuewhichmustbevigorouslyaddressedintheinterestsofcontinuingprogresstowardzoonoticdiseasepreventioninthisfield.