Exposure of South African Abattoir Workers to .

Abattoir workers may contract Q fever by inhalation of bacteria in aerosols generated by slaughtering livestock, or in contaminated dust. We estimated the seroprevalence of and examined the associated factors in a survey of South African abattoir workers. seropositivity was determined by detection of IgG antibodies against phase II antigen. Logistic regression, adjusted for clustering and sampling fraction, was employed to analyze risk factors associated with seropositivity. Among 382 workers from 16 facilities, the overall seroprevalence was 33% (95% confidence interval (CI): 28-38%) and ranged from 8% to 62% at the facility level. Prolonged contact with carcasses or meat products (odds ratio (OR): 4.6, 95% CI: 1.51-14.41) and prior abattoir or butchery work experience (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.13-3.17) were associated with seropositivity. In contrast, increasing age and livestock ownership were inversely associated. Precautions to protect abattoir personnel from Q fever are discussed.