While there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 spreads between humans and livestock, there are still many zoonotic diseases that pose a threat to your business.
Zoonotic diseases, those that can be transmitted between humans and animals, are caused by pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Unlike animal diseases, which only affect cow health and milk quality, zoonotic diseases also affect employee productivity. Controlling and preventing zoonotic diseases can reduce the number of sick days for employees, ensure employee health and productivity, and give you the perfect team.
How does the disease spread?
Zoonotic diseases are a broad concept that includes many different diseases. These diseases are mainly transmitted in four ways. Understanding these pathways can help you identify areas of risk on your farm, as well as some of the jobs where zoonotic diseases are at risk.
Direct transmission: Direct transmission occurs when a person is in direct contact with body fluids with pathogens. Body fluids include feces, urine, blood and milk, not to mention respiratory droplets and fluids excreted during childbirth. In a Colorado study, researchers found zoonotic pathogens on gloves, boots and clothing for dairy farm workers.
Indirect transmission: This refers to the indirect exposure of a person to a pathogen through a contaminated environment, surface of an object, or a tool. This is because some pathogens can survive outside the organism. For example, Bacillus anthracis can survive for decades in the dirt, in animal fur!
Vector transmission: Vector transmission occurs when a pathogen travels between animals and people through a vector (ticks, mosquitoes, fleas, or flies). These pests are not only irritating, but also spread disease.
Foodborne transmission, waterborne transmission: that is, the transmission of pathogens through food or water. Farmers should focus on potential pathogens in the sink.
Utilizing traditional methods, known as hierarchical prevention and control, can help you develop effective solutions to prevent and reduce the spread of disease among animals and workers. Before relying on employees to do their jobs correctly, hierarchical prevention and control prioritizes eliminating risks and isolating workers from danger.
Figure 1:Zoonotic diseases are diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans through multiple transmission routes
Prevention and control
One of the most effective ways to prevent zoonotic diseases is to ensure that animals and humans are vaccinated in a timely manner. Follow the veterinarian's advice and ask questions in a timely manner. Find out where your employees can get affordable medical coverage, such as mobile clinics or community health centers in the United States. Some health services may offer mobile clinics that can bring medical personnel to dairy farms to provide services. This makes employee medical check-ups more convenient and reassures you that your employees are healthy.
Pathogens can survive on adsorbed dust particles, which can be inhaled when dust is lifted, so dust management control measures should be implemented. Ensure that employees maintain good hygiene practices and prepare sinks, soap and water. Make a plan for cleaning tools and equipment, including how and how often they are cleaned.
Provide your employees with instructions on when to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and how to put it on and take it off, including gloves, respirators, face shields, goggles, overalls, and boots. Remember that personal protection is the "last resort" when it comes to security issues. Still, it's a crucial part, especially when caring for sick animals.
Use training to strengthen awareness of prevention. Employees are trained in appropriate animal handling techniques to avoid being bitten and are provided with vaccination training.
Finally, employees are briefed on the signs, symptoms, and transmission of zoonotic diseases during regular safety meetings at the time of employment and after employment.
Figure 2: Hierarchy of zoonotic disease prevention and control measures
Strive for total health
Effective training can incentivize workers to follow rules and regulations — reporting animal illness, wearing personal protective equipment, washing hands regularly, etc. — because they know that if they don't, their health is at risk. For workers on dairy farms, the most important purpose of this is to reduce the likelihood of pathogens spreading in employees' homes and to prevent spouses, children or other family members from becoming infected.
Supervisors play a vital role in building awareness of safety and containment. The friendly relationship between supervisors and employees fosters trust and open communication, which helps employees comply with regulations.
It takes time for management to learn personnel management skills. Thankfully you have other options. Studies of Spanish and Latino dairy farm workers have shown that trust among peers is very high. Use your old staff to advance precautions and build that trust: pick someone who does things according to the rules and let him or her explain and present at a safety meeting.
The U.S. Center for Agricultural Safety and Health offers many free, multilingual dairy farm safety training videos on YouTube. Iowa State University's Center for Food Safety and Public Health provides specific information on many zoonotic diseases. Trust your farm's veterinarian for advice.
On a dairy farm, everything is interconnected. By implementing zoonotic disease prevention programs, you can ensure the safety of animals, milk, and employees.