Longitudinal dynamics of farmer and livestock nasal and faecal microbiomes and resistomes.

Globally, half a billion people are employed in animal agriculture and are directly exposed to the associated microorganisms. However, the extent to which such exposures affect resident human microbiomes is unclear. Here we conducted a longitudinal profiling of the nasal and faecal microbiomes of 66 dairy farmers and 166 dairy cows over a year-long period. We compare farmer microbiomes to those of 60 age-, sex- and ZIP code-matched people with no occupational exposures to farm animals (non-farmers). We show that farming is associated with microbiomes containing livestock-associated microbes; this is most apparent in the nasal bacterial community, with farmers harbouring a richer and more diverse nasal community than non-farmers. Similarly, in the gut microbial communities, we identify more shared microbial lineages between cows and farmers from the same farms. Additionally, we find that shared microbes are associated with antibiotic resistance genes. Overall, our study demonstrates the interconnectedness of human and animal microbiomes.

Farm animal exposure, respiratory illnesses, and nasal cell gene expression.

BACKGROUND: Farm exposures in early life reduce the risks for childhood allergic diseases and asthma. There is less information about how farm exposures relate to respiratory illnesses and mucosal immune development. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that children raised in farm environments have a lower incidence of respiratory illnesses over the first 2 years of life than nonfarm children. We also analyzed whether farm exposures or respiratory illnesses were related to patterns of nasal cell gene expression. METHODS: The Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort included farm (n = 156) and nonfarm (n = 155) families with children followed to age 2 years. Parents reported prenatal farm and other environmental exposures. Illness frequency and severity were assessed using illness diaries and periodic surveys. Nasopharyngeal cell gene expression in a subset of 64 children at age 2 years was compared to farm exposure and respiratory illness history. RESULTS: Farm versus nonfarm children had nominally lower rates of respiratory illnesses (rate ratio 0.82 [95% CI, 0.69, 0.97]) with a stepwise reduction in illness rates in children exposed to 0, 1, or ≥2 animal species, but these trends were nonsignificant in a multivariable model. Farm exposures and preceding respiratory illnesses were positively related to nasal cell gene signatures for mononuclear cells and innate and antimicrobial responses. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal and infant exposure to farms and farm animals was associated with nonsignificant trends for reduced respiratory illnesses. Nasal cell gene expression in a subset of children suggests that farm exposures and respiratory illnesses in early life are associated with distinct patterns of mucosal immune expression.

Dairy Farm Work and Protection from Gastrointestinal Illness.

Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are a major public health burden in the United States. Due to close contact with animals, farmers may be a high risk subgroup for acute GI infections, though some studies suggest farm work is actually protective against GI illness. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between dairy farm work and GI symptoms over 3 years. A prospective, matched cohort study was used that included 70 adult dairy farm workers and 74 matched (age, gender, ZIP code) non-farm participants from central Wisconsin. The outcome was mean GI symptom scores for abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, dyspepsia, nausea, and reflux, per the 23-item Gastrointestinal Symptoms Severity Index (GISSI). After adjustment for potential confounding variables, linear regression results indicated dairy farm workers had significantly lower GISSI scores for abdominal pain (mean±SE = 4.3 ± 1.1 dairy vs. 7.6 ± 1.1 non-farm, p = .047), diarrhea (3.2 ± 1.0 dairy vs. 7.0 ± 1.0 non-farm, p = .010), constipation (2.0 ± 0.8 dairy vs. 6.6 ± 0.8 non-farm, p < .001), and dyspepsia (2.0 ± 0.6 dairy vs. 3.9 ± 0.5 non-farm, p = .026). Working on a dairy farm was associated with significantly less frequent and severe GI illness symptoms in adults. Future research should identify underlying causal pathways, including possible farm animal exposures, that influence beneficial gut microbiota that could inform therapeutic remedies to help prevent clinical GI disorders.

The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)-Wide Cohort.

The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)-Wide Cohort Study (EWC), a collaborative research design comprising 69 cohorts in 31 consortia, was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2016 to improve children's health in the United States. The EWC harmonizes extant data and collects new data using a standardized protocol, the ECHO-Wide Cohort Data Collection Protocol (EWCP). EWCP visits occur at least once per life stage, but the frequency and timing of the visits vary across cohorts. As of March 4, 2022, the EWC cohorts contributed data from 60,553 children and consented 29,622 children for new EWCP data and biospecimen collection. The median (interquartile range) age of EWCP-enrolled children was 7.5 years (3.7-11.1). Surveys, interviews, standardized examinations, laboratory analyses, and medical record abstraction are used to obtain information in 5 main outcome areas: pre-, peri-, and postnatal outcomes; neurodevelopment; obesity; airways; and positive health. Exposures include factors at the level of place (e.g., air pollution, neighborhood socioeconomic status), family (e.g., parental mental health), and individuals (e.g., diet, genomics).

Parent perspectives on the benefits and risks of child-livestock interactions.

Growing up on a farm or ranch often involves interactions with livestock that present both potential risks and benefits to children. While these "child-livestock interactions" contribute to the burden of agriculturally related injuries to youth in the United States, they may also result in improved immunological health and other benefits. Agricultural upbringings are also widely perceived to improve physical, cognitive, and skill development of children, contributing to a combination of potential benefits and risks known as the "farm kid paradox." Although previous studies show the health impacts of child-livestock interactions, less is known about the ways in which farm and ranch parents perceive the benefits and risks of these interactions, and how and why they choose to raise children around livestock. Our research addresses this gap by analyzing data from semi-structured interviews with 30 parents of children between the ages of 10-18 who produce beef cattle in Kansas. This research is part of a larger anthropological study of the benefits and risks of child-livestock interactions involving parents on beef and dairy operations in multiple states, along with agricultural safety and health professionals. The results offer insights into the experiences, practices, and perspectives of parents, outlining agricultural ways of life in which safety and relations to risk are shaped by patterns of production, family dynamics, values and habits, and other social and cultural dimensions. These insights deepen our understanding of parents' perceptions of both benefits and risks of agricultural childhoods.

Structural Competency and Agricultural Health and Safety: An Opportunity to Foster Equity within Agriculture.

The future of agricultural work in the United States (U.S.) must account for at least two important trends: 1) the persistence of the industry being riddled with high rates of injury and illness and 2) the growing proportion of hired farmworkers compared to family farmworkers working in these dangerous environments. These workers confront structural disadvantages that impede social justice and prosperity. Social structures like policies, economic systems, institutions, and social hierarchies create health disparities, often along the lines of social categories. The result is an already dangerous industry with vulnerable workers facing unjust risks, especially those that are undocumented. Agricultural health and safety professionals and other stakeholders should engage structural competency curricula in order to increase awareness of impact of structures and be better positioned to improve farmworker health and wellbeing. Similar work has been successful in the training healthcare professionals, e.g. the Structural Competency Working Group (SCWG). New strategies are needed to improve farmworker wellbeing and retain an adequate agricultural workforce. A greater understanding of the social and structural concerns that farmworkers face is an important step towards occupational and social justice. It is also clear that it will require collaboration and community-based efforts creating a larger team of people using similar concepts related to the structural influences on whether health and wellbeing are distributed equitably. This work is being moved forward in healthcare, social work, worker organizations, and community-based initiatives. Agricultural health and safety professionals have a vital contribution to make if they join the ranks.

Cord blood sphingolipids are associated with atopic dermatitis and wheeze in the first year of life.

Background: Allergen-sensitized pregnant mice have increased plasma levels of the lipids ß-glucosylceramides (ßGlcCers) that are transplacentally transferred to the fetus, increased subsets of proinflammatory dendritic cells in the fetal liver and pup lung, and increased allergen-induced offspring lung inflammation. Objective: Our aim was to determine whether these preclinical observations extend to a human association of ßGlcCers with wheeze and allergic disease in the prospective Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort. Methods: We measured 74 lipids in cord blood plasma by using mass spectrometry detection of sphingolipids, eicosanoids, and docosinoids, as well as an ELISA for 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid. Lipid profiles were determined by unbiased Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection dimensional reduction machine learning. Lipid profiles and a proinflammatory lipid index were analyzed for association with maternal allergy and childhood outcomes of wheeze, atopic dermatitis, cord blood leukocytes, and total IgE level at age 1 year. Results: Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection analysis of lipids defined 8 cluster-specific plasma lipid profiles. Cluster 6 had significantly lower levels of plasma ßGlcCers and a higher frequency of cord blood plasmacytoid dendritic cells that mediate anti-inflammatory responses, which is consistent with an anti-inflammatory profile. For clusters and for each infant, a proinflammatory lipid index was calculated to reflect the sum of the proinflammatory lipids minus the anti-inflammatory lipids that were significantly different than in cluster 6. The cluster proinflammatory lipid index was associated with cord blood basophil frequency and with wheeze and atopic dermatitis in the first year of life. The infant inflammatory lipid index was associated with increased risk of wheeze in the first year of life. Conclusion: The cord blood proinflammatory lipid index is associated with early-life atopic dermatitis and wheezing.

Human Epidemiology and RespOnse to SARS-CoV-2 (HEROS): Objectives, Design and Enrollment Results of a 12-City Remote Observational Surveillance Study of Households with Children using Direct-to-Participant Methods.

The Human Epidemiology and Response to SARS-CoV-2 (HEROS) is a prospective multi-city 6-month incidence study which was conducted from May 2020-February 2021. The objectives were to identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and household transmission among children and people with asthma and allergic diseases, and to use the host nasal transcriptome sampled longitudinally to understand infection risk and sequelae at the molecular level. To overcome challenges of clinical study implementation due to the coronavirus pandemic, this surveillance study used direct-to-participant methods to remotely enroll and prospectively follow eligible children who are participants in other NIH-funded pediatric research studies and their household members. Households participated in weekly surveys and biweekly nasal sampling regardless of symptoms. The aim of this report is to widely share the methods and study instruments and to describe the rationale, design, execution, logistics and characteristics of a large, observational, household-based, remote cohort study of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in households with children. The study enrolled a total of 5,598 individuals, including 1,913 principal participants (children), 1,913 primary caregivers, 729 secondary caregivers and 1,043 other household children. This study was successfully implemented without necessitating any in-person research visits and provides an approach for rapid execution of clinical research.

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in households with children with asthma and allergy: A prospective surveillance study.

BACKGROUND: Whether children and people with asthma and allergic diseases are at increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is unknown. OBJECTIVE: Our aims were to determine the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in households with children and to also determine whether self-reported asthma and/or other allergic diseases are associated with infection and household transmission. METHODS: For 6 months, biweekly nasal swabs and weekly surveys were conducted within 1394 households (N = 4142 participants) to identify incident SARS-CoV-2 infections from May 2020 to February 2021, which was the pandemic period largely before a vaccine and before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Participant and household infection and household transmission probabilities were calculated by using time-to-event analyses, and factors associated with infection and transmission risk were determined by using regression analyses. RESULTS: In all, 147 households (261 participants) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The household SARS-CoV-2 infection probability was 25.8%; the participant infection probability was similar for children (14.0% [95% CI = 8.0%-19.6%]), teenagers (12.1% [95% CI = 8.2%-15.9%]), and adults (14.0% [95% CI = 9.5%-18.4%]). Infections were symptomatic in 24.5% of children, 41.2% of teenagers, and 62.5% of adults. Self-reported doctor-diagnosed asthma was not a risk factor for infection (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.04 [95% CI = 0.73-1.46]), nor was upper respiratory allergy or eczema. Self-reported doctor-diagnosed food allergy was associated with lower infection risk (aHR = 0.50 [95% CI = 0.32-0.81]); higher body mass index was associated with increased infection risk (aHR per 10-point increase = 1.09 [95% CI = 1.03-1.15]). The household secondary attack rate was 57.7%. Asthma was not associated with household transmission, but transmission was lower in households with food allergy (adjusted odds ratio = 0.43 [95% CI = 0.19-0.96]; P = .04). CONCLUSION: Asthma does not increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Food allergy is associated with lower infection risk, whereas body mass index is associated with increased infection risk. Understanding how these factors modify infection risk may offer new avenues for preventing infection.

Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Among Organic Farmer Mothers.

Purpose: Rates of organic farms and women organic farmers are increasing. Yet, this recent surge brings new and uncertain challenges for injury epidemiology. Since many in the population are of child-bearing age, and child agricultural injury is a significant threat, of particular relevance are the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs towards risk of child injury.Methods: A paper, self-administered 11-question questionnaire was distributed at four events geared towards early career women organic farmers. The questionnaire generated data around select demographics, attitudes towards farm safety, and sources of safety knowledge.Findings & Discussion: The questionnaire had a 45% response rate. As expected, most respondents were new to farming (1-3 years' experience as a primary owner/operator), and 47% reported having a child under the age of 18 years work on the farm. While respondents recognized farms were generally unsafe for children, they reported their own farm as safe for children. Preferred sources of safety knowledge were those with user-generated content from other farmers.Conclusion: Interventions with new women organic farmers in the Midwest are likely to be most effective by incorporating social media, networking with area farmers' groups, and addressing the optimism bias. Information not explicitly marketed as safety information may gain traction. A more complete analysis of risk, incidence, and prevalence of this niche population is important.

Patterns of farm exposure are associated with reduced incidence of atopic dermatitis in early life.

BACKGROUND: Farm exposures may reduce the risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children, but this is controversial and US data are limited. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to identify patterns of farm exposure in Wisconsin family farms that modify AD incidence and prevalence in early childhood. METHODS: Environmental exposures, health history, and clinical outcomes were prospectively recorded for 111 farm families and 129 non-farm families enrolled in the Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort birth cohort study. Exposures from the prenatal and early postnatal (2-month) visits were evaluated together with parental report of AD diagnosis by a health care provider through age 24 months. Latent class analysis was performed with prenatal and early postnatal farm-exposure variables to assign farm children to 3 classes. RESULTS: Overall, children of farm families had reduced AD incidence (P = .03). Within farm families, exposures including poultry (3% vs 28%; P = .003), pig (4% vs 25%; P = .04), feed grain (13% vs 34%; P = .02), and number of animal species were inversely associated with AD incidence. Among the latent class groups, children in families with diverse or more intense farm exposures (classes A and B) had reduced AD incidence, whereas low-exposure (class C) infants had AD incidence similar to that in nonfarm children. CONCLUSIONS: Infants in Wisconsin farm families had reduced AD incidence, and patterns of farm exposures further defined AD risk. These findings suggest that exposure to diverse farm animals, feed, and bedding during the prenatal period and in early infancy reduce the risk of early-onset AD, a phenotype associated with multiple other atopic diseases.

Respiratory health, allergies, and the farm environment: design, methods and enrollment in the observational Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort (WISC): a research proposal.

Epidemiologic and cross-sectional studies suggest that early life farming and animal exposures are associated with major health benefits, influencing immune development and modifying the subsequent risk of allergic diseases, including asthma. The Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort (WISC) study was established in central Wisconsin to test the hypothesis that early life animal farm exposures are associated with distinct innate immune cell maturation trajectories, decreased allergen sensitization and reduced respiratory viral illness burden during the first 2 years of life. Beginning in 2013, a total of 240 families have been enrolled, 16,522 biospecimens have been collected, and 4098 questionnaires have been administered and entered into a secure database. Study endpoints include nasal respiratory virus identification and respiratory illness burden score, allergic sensitization, expression of allergic disease, and anti-viral immune response maturation and profiles. The WISC study prospective design, broad biospecimen collections, and unique US rural community will provide insights into the role of environmental exposures on early life immune maturation profiles associated with protection from allergic sensitization and significant respiratory viral disease burden. The WISC study findings will ultimately inform development of new strategies to promote resistance to severe respiratory viral illnesses and design primary prevention approaches for allergic diseases for all infants.

The Dangerous Middle: Situational Awareness and Worker Perception of Beetle Kill.

Forest workers, including loggers, foresters, and wildland firefighters, are regularly exposed to some of the most fatal occupational environments in the United States. These hazardous work environments may become even more complex and dynamic when subject to bark beetle outbreaks that have resulted in significant tree mortality. The impacts of tree death from bark beetles are significant, with the cumulative 17-year (2000-2016) footprint for bark beetle caused tree mortality estimated at 54 million acres. However, how workers think about and act in these environments is understudied. This study, therefore, approaches the issue of beetle kill and forest worker safety by examining the perspectives or workers themselves. Its contribution is to leverage ethnographic research to provide insights that can generate new research questions, better inform outreach, and ultimately improve worker safety outcomes. The resulting insights show that beetle kill was understood by workers as a hazard that increased the complexity and dynamism of the work environment, making situational awareness both more necessary and more difficult to maintain. While much research about situational awareness focuses on hazardous situations, it is suggested that building adequate situational awareness should also include broader considerations of organizational communication, as well as training and experience considered over the course of entire careers.

Determinants of human papillomavirus vaccine attitudes: an interview of Wisconsin parents.

BACKGROUND: Parental attitudes play a key role in their decisions to vaccinate adolescents against the human papillomavirus (HPV). Little is known, however, about the formative experiences that shape parents' attitudes about the HPV vaccine. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 parents of 11-17 year old adolescents in Wisconsin who changed their HPV vaccine attitudes (per prior surveys) over one year. A modified grounded theory approach was then used to generate primary themes of attitudinal determinants. RESULTS: Participants were predominately mothers. We identified three major themes that shaped parents' HPV attitudes: (1) the perceived likelihood of the HPV vaccine preventing cancer, (2) agency in adolescence and gauging their adolescent child's intent for sexual activity, (3) the credibility of HPV vaccine information sources. General messaging around cancer prevention did not always supersede some parents' concerns about the vaccine's perceived link to sexual activity. Parents often viewed their adolescent child's feelings about the HPV vaccine as a gauge of their (child's) intent for sexual activity. Interviewees felt a sense of responsibility to educate themselves about the HPV vaccine using multiple sources and particularly looked to their medical provider to filter conflicting information. CONCLUSIONS: More family-specific (vs. disease-prevention) messaging and recommendations may be needed in the clinical environment to sway some parents' negative attitudes about the HPV vaccine. Future research should explore additional strategies to improve HPV vaccine attitudes, such as situating the vaccine in the context of a monogamous lifestyle that many parents wish to impart to their children.

Association between parent attitudes and receipt of human papillomavirus vaccine in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage rates remain low. This is believed to reflect parental hesitancy, but few studies have examined how changes in parents' attitudes impact HPV vaccine uptake. This study examined the association between changes in parents' vaccine attitudes and HPV vaccine receipt in their adolescent children. METHODS: A baseline and 1-year follow-up survey of HPV vaccine attitudes was administered to parents of 11-17 year olds who had not completed the HPV vaccine series. Changes in attitudinal scores (barriers, harms, ineffectiveness, and uncertainties) from the Carolina HPV Immunization Attitudes and Beliefs Scale were assessed. Two outcomes were measured (in parents' adolescent children) over an 18-month period and analyzed using multivariable regression; receipt of next scheduled HPV vaccine dose and 3-dose series completion. RESULTS: There were 221 parents who completed the baseline survey (11% response rate) and 164 with available follow-up data; 60% of their adolescent children received a next HPV vaccine dose and 38% completed the vaccine series at follow-up. Decrease in parents' uncertainties was a significant predictor of vaccine receipt, with each 1-point reduction in uncertainties score associated with 4.9 higher odds of receipt of the next vaccine dose. Higher baseline harms score was the only significant predictor of lower series completion. CONCLUSIONS: Reductions in parents' uncertainties appeared to result in greater likelihood of their children receiving the HPV vaccine. Only baseline concerns about vaccine harms were associated with lower series completion rate. Education for parents should emphasize the HPV vaccine's safety profile.

The Entanglements of Agrarian Ethics With Agrarian Risks and Leveraging Them in Agricultural Health Safety.

Agriculture is the most dangerous occupation in the United States for both workers and bystanders. Family farms highlight an intersection of domesticity and labor. Agrarian ethics of animal husbandry, land stewardship, and kinship are often conflated and constructed to accommodate unpredictable risks (e.g., weather, financial markets). Here, the right or good agricultural practice is assessed in light of an acute event. Risks of illness and injury are often relegated to the realm of acute unpredictability and accepted as intrinsic to desirable ways of life. The article presents a description of agrarian ethics and risks generated from personal experience and ethnographic inquiries in the Midwest, the Intermountain West, and Texas over the past 10 years. This article assesses health and safety within agrarian ethics. The results and discussion lead us to an important conversation about how we can be more detailed in the use of terms such as "cultural appropriateness." It also raises the question as to what is really at stake in public health perspectives like those found in the socioecological and extended parallel process models when deployed in agricultural health and safety.

"When This Breaks Down, It's Black Gold": Race and Gender in Agricultural Health and Safety.

Farmers are growing older, and fewer new agriculturists are rising to take their place. Concurrently, women and minorities are entering agriculture at an increasing rate. These rates are particularly curious viewed in light of the racialized and gendered nature of agriculture. Slavery and agriculture share strong historical roots, with many male slaves performing agricultural labor. So then, why would African American women choose to engage in agriculture in any form? Participant observation and in-depth interviews with a group of African American women urban farmers in the southeastern United States were asked this question. Interviews with seven such women revealed their perception of self-sustainable small-scale agriculture as a departure from, not return to, slavery. The women drew metaphors between the Earth and femininity, believing their work to be uniquely feminine. Production of food for consumption and trade provides a source for community and healthy food amid urban poverty and the plight of food deserts. These data encourage agricultural health and safety professionals and researchers to tackle the health-promoting nature of such work, with the entrée of anthropology and other social sciences into the field. In many ways, these women portrayed small-scale food cultivation as an important component of, rather than a threat to, health and safety. Indeed, they viewed such labor as wholly health promoting. Their strong social connections provide a potential means for community-led dissemination of any relevant health and safety information.