North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health, Raleigh, North Carolina 27601, USA.
J Food Prot. 2010 May;73(5):985-8. doi: 10.4315/0362-028x-73.5.985.
Migrant and seasonal farmworkers provide much of the necessary labor to harvest and process agricultural commodities desired by consumers. Little is known about the health status (especially the parasitic burden) of farm laborers, who handpick agricultural items such as fruits and vegetables, despite being implicated as a means of foodborne pathogen transmission. The goal of this research was to develop a framework to investigate enteric parasitic infections among Hispanic farmworkers in Eastern North Carolina. Seventy-one interviews were conducted, 16 stool samples were collected, and two parasite-positive workers were found. In addition, some potentially harmful health practices (e.g., self-medication) were identified. Further research is necessary to fully understand the scope of farmworker health issues and the potential risk of disseminating foodborne pathogens to humans. The study model presented provides a geographically expandable format to allow for various types of health investigations including the prevalence of other pathogens.
移民和季节性农业工人提供了大量必要的劳动力，以收获和加工消费者所需的农产品。人们对农业工人的健康状况（尤其是寄生虫负担）知之甚少，尽管他们被认为是食源性病原体传播的一种途径，但他们却亲手采摘水果和蔬菜等农产品。本研究的目的是建立一个框架，以调查北卡罗来纳州东部西班牙裔农业工人的肠道寄生虫感染情况。进行了 71 次访谈，采集了 16 份粪便样本，发现了两名寄生虫阳性工人。此外，还发现了一些潜在的有害健康行为（例如，自我用药）。需要进一步研究才能充分了解农民工健康问题的范围以及向人类传播食源性病原体的潜在风险。所提出的研究模型提供了一种可在地理上扩展的格式，可用于各种类型的健康调查，包括其他病原体的流行情况。
