Volume 25, Number 5—May 2019
Research
Risk Factors for MERS-CoV Seropositivity among Animal Market and Slaughterhouse Workers, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2014–2017
Ahmed Khudhair1, Marie E. Killerby1
, Mariam Al Mulla, Kheir Abou Elkheir, Wassim Ternanni, Zyad Bandar, Stefan Weber, Mary Khoury, George Donnelly, Salama Al Muhairi, Abdelmalik I. Khalafalla, Suvang Trivedi, Azaibi Tamin, Natalie J. Thornburg, John T. Watson, Susan I. Gerber, Farida Al Hosani2, and Aron J. Hall2
, Mariam Al Mulla, Kheir Abou Elkheir, Wassim Ternanni, Zyad Bandar, Stefan Weber, Mary Khoury, George Donnelly, Salama Al Muhairi, Abdelmalik I. Khalafalla, Suvang Trivedi, Azaibi Tamin, Natalie J. Thornburg, John T. Watson, Susan I. Gerber, Farida Al Hosani2, and Aron J. Hall2
Table 3
Comparison of practices among 90 MERS-CoV seronegative and seropositive slaughterhouse workers, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates*
| Characteristic | Total no. participants | No. (%) participants |
OR (95% CI) | p value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seronegative, n = 79 | Seropositive, n = 11 | |||||||||
| Handle live camels | 56 | 49 (87.5) | 7 (12.5) | 1.07 (0.3–4.37) | 0.918 | |||||
| Perform antemortem exam of camels | 6 | 5 (83.3) | 1 (16.7) | 1.48 (0.07–10.5) | 0.732 | |||||
| Remove hide from camels† | 52 | 46 (88.5) | 6 (11.5) | 0.83 (0.23–3.12) | 0.780 | |||||
| Remove or handle viscera of camels‡ | 55 | 48 (87.3) | 7 (12.7) | 1.51 (0.39–7.4) | 0.573 | |||||
| Clean equipment | 68 | 58 (85.3) | 10 (14.7) | 3.62 (0.63–68.47) | 0.233 | |||||
| Handle camel waste | 57 | 50 (87.7) | 7 (12.3) | 1.01 (0.28–4.15) | 0.982 | |||||
| Prepare cuts of camel meat | 52 | 45 (86.5) | 7 (13.5) | 1.32 (0.37–5.39) | 0.675 | |||||
| Conduct postmortem exam of camels | 3 | 2 (66.7) | 1 (33.3) | 3.85 (0.17–43.92) | 0.288 | |||||
| Slaughter camels | 41 | 36 (87.8) | 5 (12.2) | 1 (0.27–3.57) | 0.994 | |||||
| Contact with ill camel | 3 | 2 (66.7) | 1 (33.3) | 3.85 (0.17–43.92) | 0.288 | |||||
| Wear dust mask and gloves | 88 | 77 (87.5) | 11 (12.5) | NA | NA | |||||
| Wear respirator | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | |||||
| Wear coveralls | 85 | 74 (87.1) | 11 (12.9) | NA | NA | |||||
| Wear boots |
85 |
74 (87.1) |
11 (12.9) |
NA |
NA |
|||||
| Who washes your clothes | ||||||||||
| Self | 30 | 28 (93.3) | 2 (6.7) | Ref | Ref | |||||
| Household member | 2 | 0 | 2 (100.0) | NA | NA | |||||
| Other worker |
58 |
51 (87.9) |
7 (12.1) |
1.92 (0.43–13.49) |
0.434 |
|||||
| Take work clothes home | 33 | 29 (87.9) | 4 (12.1) | 0.99 (0.24–3.55) | 0.982 | |||||
| Wash work clothes at home | 31 | 27 (87.1) | 4 (12.9) | 1.1 (0.27–3.98) | 0.886 | |||||
| Wash work clothes at workplace | 58 | 51 (87.9) | 7 (12.1) | 0.96 (0.27–3.93) | 0.952 | |||||
| Wash work clothes at laundry | 2 | 2 (100.0) | 0 | NA | NA | |||||
| Wash hands before and after each animal-related task | 73 | 64 (87.7) | 9 (12.3) | 1.05 (0.24–7.39) | 0.949 | |||||
| Wash hands at meal times | 89 | 78 (87.6) | 11 (12.4) | NA | NA | |||||
| Wash hands at bathroom times | 90 | 79 (87.8) | 11 (12.2) | NA | NA | |||||
| Wash hands at prayer times | 88 | 78 (88.6) | 10 (11.4) | 0.13 (0–3.41) | 0.158 | |||||
| Wash hands at beginning and end of day | 84 | 75 (89.3) | 9 (10.7) | 0.24 (0.04–1.9) | 0.127 | |||||
| Wash hands at toilets | 86 | 76 (88.4) | 10 (11.6) | 0.39 (0.05–8.4) | 0.440 | |||||
| Wash hands at restaurant | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | NA | |||||
| Wash hands at mosque | 3 | 3 (100.0) | 0 | NA | NA | |||||
| Wash hands at basin | 47 | 43 (91.5) | 4 (8.5) | 0.48 (0.12–1.71) | 0.268 | |||||
*Exam, examination; MERS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, NA, not applicable; OR, odds ratio.
†Total seronegative was 78 because answer from 1 person was missing.
‡Total seropositive was 10 because answer from 1 person was missing.
1These authors contributed equally to this article.
2These authors contributed equally to this article.
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