Volume 17, Number 9—September 2011
Dispatch
Q Fever among Culling Workers, the Netherlands, 2009–2010
Jane Whelan
, Barbara Schimmer, Peter Schneeberger, Jamie Meekelenkamp, Wim van der Hoek, Mirna Robert–Du Ry van Beest Holle, and Arnold IJff
, Barbara Schimmer, Peter Schneeberger, Jamie Meekelenkamp, Wim van der Hoek, Mirna Robert–Du Ry van Beest Holle, and Arnold IJffTable 1
Baseline characteristics of workers before culling small ruminants, the Netherlands, December 2009*
| Characteristic | Total no. workers | No. (%) workers |
p value† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seronegative, n = 395 | Seropositive, n = 58 | |||
| Sex‡ | ||||
| M | 342 | 303 (89) | 39 (11) | |
| F§ |
11 |
10 (91) |
1 (9) |
0.812 |
| Age group, y¶ | ||||
| <40 | 114 | 95 (83) | 19 (17) | |
| 40–49 | 157 | 137 (87) | 20 (13) | |
| 50–59 | 154 | 139 (90) | 15 (10) | |
| >60 |
26 |
22 (85) |
4 (15) |
0.398 |
| Distance of residence from nearest infected farm, km¶ | ||||
| <5 | 116 | 95 (82) | 21 (18) | |
| >5 |
317 |
282 (89) |
35 (11) |
0.052 |
| Level of education¶ | ||||
| Low | 48 | 43 (90) | 5 (10) | |
| Medium | 132 | 117 (89) | 15 (11) | |
| High |
53 |
45 (85) |
8 (15) |
0.725 |
| Medical history¶# | ||||
| No | 159 | 140 (88) | 19 (12) | |
| Yes |
57 |
47 (83) |
10 (18) |
0.288 |
| Current smoker¶ | ||||
| No | 189 | 162 (86) | 27 (14) | |
| Yes |
53 |
48 (91) |
5 (9) |
0.357 |
| Previous culling experience¶ | ||||
| No | 116 | 94 (81) | 22 (19) | |
| Yes |
135 |
124 (92) |
11 (8) |
0.011 |
| Regular occupational contact with sheep or goats¶ | ||||
| No | 202 | 182 (90) | 20 (10) | |
| Yes | 34 | 24 (71) | 10 (29) | 0.002 |
*Missing values excluded from analysis.
†Pearson χ2.
‡Maximum 453 respondents. Data available from occupational records.
§No female respondents were pregnant.
¶Maximum 251 respondents. Data available from questionnaire responses.
#History of cardiorespiratory disease, liver disorders, diabetes, cancer, immunosuppression, allergies, skin conditions.
