Human–livestock contacts and their relationship to transmission of zoonotic pathogens, a systematic review of literature

Klous, Gijs; Huss, Anke; Heederik, Dick J.J.; Coutinho, Roel A.

With respect to contact with infected animals, veterinarians and veterinary medicine students have an increased risk of acquiring infections. Veterinarians are the first people who come in contact with infected animals in case of an outbreak [39] . They are at increased risk to acquire a wide range of zoonotic infections, as was illustrated in a study among veterinarians from South-Africa [20] . In Denmark, 36% of veterinarians and 11% of other occupationally exposed people in contact with dairy cattle were found positive for serological markers of C. burnetii; these markers are indicative of (previous-) infection after exposure to infected animals [40] . Seroconversion for C. burnetii was found in 18.7% of students whom provided a blood sample in the study of De Rooij et al. A clear exposure-response relationship was found for the prevalence of converted sera which increased with every year the students advanced in their education within the study specialisation 'farm animals' [41] . In 44% of a cohort of Dutch veterinarians, LA-MRSA carriage was found on at least one of the repetitive measuring moments, 13% of all participants were persistent carriers of LA-MRSA. This makes MRSA carriage among veterinarians extremely high, because in the general Dutch population MRSA carriage is very rare (b0.1%) [42] . In veterinary medicine students MRSA carriage was detected after contact with MRSA carrying horses [43] .