Cutshaw Melissa K, Sciaudone Michael, Vasquez-Martinez Brenda, McClean Colleen M, Kharabora Oksana, Murray Katherine, Strohminger Stephen, Zivanovich Miriana Moreno, Gurnett Rachel, Salgado Emperatriz Morales, Boyce Ross M, Bowman Natalie M
Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 Sep 2;5(9):e0005116. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0005116. eCollection 2025.
Workers in food processing industries are subject to many occupational health risks and disparities, but little is known about their risk of tickborne diseases. We examined a cohort of Latino individuals working in the meat packing, produce processing, and farming industries and their family members in central North Carolina, where incidence of tickborne infections is high. Blood samples were tested for IgG antibodies against Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis (SFGR) and Ehrlichia chaffeensis. Covariates of interest included age, sex, primary language, work industry, indoor vs. outdoor work, home characteristics, medical comorbidities, and travel history. Among 201 Latino food processing workers and their family members, the seroprevalence of SFGR and Ehrlichia was 14.9% and 19.9%, respectively. Almost a third of participants were seropositive for at least one infection. SFGR seropositive individuals were significantly older than seronegative individuals (median 45 [interquartile range 35-55] vs. 33 [14-45] years, p < 0.001), while Ehrlichia seropositivity appeared to have a bimodal distribution by age, with peaks in children under age 10 and adults in their forties and fifties. Farm workers had higher seroprevalence of SFGR (25.0%) than other workers (13.5%), although this did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.13). Having a seropositive household member for either infection was a risk factor for seropositivity for the same infection, adjusted for age and household clustering (adjusted OR [aOR] 8.26, 95% CI [confidence interval] 3.27-20.90 for SFGR; aOR 11.24, 95% CI 4.24-29.80 for Ehrlichia). Seroprevalence for SFGR and Ehrlichia was similar between index workers and household members when adjusted for age. Our findings indicate that Latino food processing communities in North Carolina have high exposure to tickborne disease, and older age and having seropositive household members are key risk factors.
食品加工行业的工人面临许多职业健康风险和差异，但对于他们感染蜱传疾病的风险却知之甚少。我们对北卡罗来纳州中部从事肉类包装、农产品加工和农业的拉丁裔工人及其家庭成员组成的队列进行了研究，该地区蜱传感染的发病率很高。对血液样本进行检测，以检测抗斑点热群立克次体病（SFGR）和恰菲埃立克体的IgG抗体。感兴趣的协变量包括年龄、性别、主要语言、工作行业、室内与室外工作、家庭特征、合并症以及旅行史。在201名拉丁裔食品加工工人及其家庭成员中，SFGR和埃立克体的血清阳性率分别为14.9%和19.9%。近三分之一的参与者至少有一种感染呈血清阳性。SFGR血清阳性个体明显比血清阴性个体年龄大（中位数45岁[四分位间距35 - 55岁]对33岁[14 - 45岁]，p < 0.001），而埃立克体血清阳性率在年龄上似乎呈双峰分布，在10岁以下儿童以及四五十岁的成年人中出现峰值。农场工人的SFGR血清阳性率（25.0%）高于其他工人（13.5%），尽管这未达到统计学显著性（p = 0.13）。家中有任一感染呈血清阳性的家庭成员是同一感染血清阳性的危险因素，在对年龄和家庭聚集进行调整后（调整后的比值比[aOR]，SFGR为8.26，95%置信区间[CI]为3.27 - 20.90；埃立克体为11.24，95% CI为4.24 - 29.80）。在对年龄进行调整后，索引工人和家庭成员之间SFGR和埃立克体的血清阳性率相似。我们的研究结果表明，北卡罗来纳州的拉丁裔食品加工社区高度暴露于蜱传疾病，年龄较大以及家中有血清阳性的家庭成员是关键危险因素。
