BACKGROUND The fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FE(NO)) has been found reduced 4 to 6 weeks after an educational intervention in farmers with occupational asthma. OBJECTIVE To reveal whether long-term changes in FE(NO) would still be detectable a year after the intervention. METHODS We evaluated airway inflammation and obstruction at baseline and after 1 year in animal farmers with occupat...

OBJECTIVES Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging pathogen. We evaluated the seroprevalence of HEV infection among swine farmers and the general population in Taiwan, a nonendemic country. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional seroepidemiologic study in rural Taiwan in 2012 and 2013. The study included swine farmers, health examination attendees, pregnant women, and students. A commercial en...

Senior farmers suffer the highest fatality risk of any age group in agriculture. The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop a "voice" for senior farmers by examining aging farmers' and their families' perspectives of farm work, associated injury risks, and methods to decrease those risks. Focus groups and personal interviews were used to collect data from 81 participants across seven ...

BACKGROUND In Egypt, many pesticides are used to control pests in agricultural farms. Our study aimed to investigate knowledge and behaviors of farmers related to pesticide use and their relation to educational level and health locus of control. Health locus of control is the degree to which individuals believe that their health is controlled by internal or external factors. METHODS A cross-s...

We assessed the quantitative contribution of pig farming to antimicrobial resistance in the commensal flora of pig farmers by comparing 113 healthy pig farmers from the major French porcine production areas to 113 nonfarmers, each matched for sex, age, and county of residence. All reported that they had not taken antiimicrobial agents within the previous month. Throat, nasal, and fecal swabs we...

The study determined the prevalence and major types of gastrointestinal parasites in pigs and assessed the health management practices on farms in Burayu District in West Shoa Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. The study was performed from November 2007 to April 2008 using standard coprological examination and a well-organised questionnaire survey. Of the 272 pigs examined for the presenc...

BACKGROUND In France, two studies analysed multiple sclerosis prevalence nationwide: one was carried out in farmers, and the other one in employees. A south-north gradient of prevalence was found solely in farmers. OBJECTIVE In order to better describe the latitude gradient in France, which is not uniform depending on the studied population, we assessed whether a gradient exists in another po...

A previous study, carried out in 1986 in France, showed the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and of respiratory function impairment to be higher in dairy farmers than in a control group of nonexposed subjects living in a rural zone. In order to confirm the harmful effect of dairy farming, the two groups were re-studied 6 yrs later at the same period of the year. One hundred and ninety-four (7...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of Shiga toxin (Stx) gene-positive stool samples from dairy farmer and slaughterhouse workers in Gyeonggi-Do province. METHODS A total of 621 samples from healthy farmers and 198 samples from slaughterhouse workers were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) infection on stool...

The organic agriculture represents a promising alternative for the future of European agriculture. It is consistent with the notion of sustainable development set forth already in the 1992 CAP Reform. Despite of increasing importance of organic farming, the research on organic farming is still limited. This scarcity of the research is especially true for New Member States of the enlarged EU. Th...