- Did Pig Brain Tissue Sicken Austin Pork Plant
Workers?
- By Josephine Marcotty and Maura Lerner
- Star Tribune
- 1-19-8
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- The discovery that two Indiana pork-plant workers apparently
developed symptoms of the same mystery illness that struck meatpackers
in Austin, Minn., may be a significant break in a case that has baffled
disease investigators for a month.
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- Like the workers in Minnesota, those at the Indiana plant
were stationed near a powerful air-compression system used to blow brains
out of pig heads during processing, said health officials. The process,
which is no longer being used at either plant, exposes workers to floating
particles of blood and brain that investigators theorize could have made
them sick.
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- The fatigue, numbness and tingling in arms and legs reported
by workers at both plants are hallmarks of the inflammatory neurological
condition, which investigators have yet to name.
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- "It makes the possibility of exposure to the swine
brain tissue more compelling," said Ruth Lynfield, Minnesota state
epidemiologist.
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- The Austin and Indiana plants are two of only three in
the nation known to have used the high-compression air system to remove
brains.
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- The third, in Fremont, Neb., is owned by Hormel Foods
and is also part of the investigation. But so far no cases have been discovered
there, Lynfield said. All three stopped using the compressed-air process
after the illnesses came to light.
-
- Investigators will be able to compare all three plants
"and then find out what the differences are," she said. "It
is significant."
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- Too early for a link
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- Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, an investigator for the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cautioned that it's too
early to be sure the cases in Minnesota and Indiana are connected. "They're
in the process of tracking down this information," she said. "We're
trying to learn all we can."
-
- The Indiana workers were identified after investigators
began inspecting packing plants across the country after the Minnesota
cases came to light. The CDC has looked into slaughtering practices in
25 large pork-processing plants in 13 states. Officials from United Food
and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the union that represents workers at Quality
Pork Processors (QPP) in Austin, said they polled local packing house unions
across the country about processing practices.
-
- Dr. James Howell, who is heading the investigation for
the Indiana State Department of Health, said the two cases there were first
identified by a doctor in early January. More may be identified as the
investigation moves forward, officials said. Howell said the Indiana plant
has been using the air-compression system for about 10 years. The Austin
plant began using it in late 2006.
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- Backing off initial diagnosis
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- So far 12 workers at the QPP plant in Austin have been
identified as having the same collection of symptoms. Initially, health
officials said the symptoms fit an extremely rare disease called CIDP (chronic
inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy). But after further testing they
backed off of that diagnosis, and now say the illness is a new syndrome.
-
- Elizabeth Hart, a spokeswoman for the Indiana health
department, declined to release any details of the investigation, including
the condition of the patients or the name of the processing plant.
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- Logical deduction
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- But UFCW officials said Thursday that they know of only
one plant in Indiana that uses the air-compression system: Indiana Packers
Corp. in Delphi.
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- The union represents workers at a nearby Tyson pork plant,
but not at Indiana Packers, said Jackie Nowell, health and safety director
for the union.
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- Officials of Indiana Packers, which is owned by the Japanese
conglomerate Mitsubishi, didn't return phone calls Thursday. However, the
Indianapolis Star has reported that a company official said the Delphi
plant was not involved.
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- "We know that Indiana Packers was using the same
[processing] method," Nowell said. "In our opinion, logically,
the plant is Indiana Packers."
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- marcotty@startribune.com · 612-673-7394
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- http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/13881786.html
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- State Probes Illness Of Two Meat Plant Workers
- By Tom Spalding
- IndyStar.com
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- Two employees of an unidentified pig slaughterhouse in
Indiana are being treated medically for symptoms similar to a suspected
neurological illness that sickened 12 workers at a Minnesota pork plant.
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- The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
notified the Indiana Department of Health in mid-December of a potential
link, and state officials said today they are still trying to determine
if there are any other workers at the plant who used a specific processing
technique and might have exposed.
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- There are 30 hog plants in Indiana, and citing privacy
concerns, the state won't reveal the name or location of the Indiana plant.
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- The illnesses here are not life-threatening, said Elizabeth
Hart, a spokeswoman for the Indiana State Department of Health. The employees
are seeking medical attention with their personal physicians.
-
- She said it was unclear when those employees got sick,
and that health officials in Indianapolis only became aware of the two
illnesses during the first week in January. The Indiana workers' symptoms
included changes in sensation and weakness in their limbs.
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- "This is very, very new to us," Hart said.
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- After the Minnesota slaughterhouse illness was reported
in December, the CDC looked into slaughtering practices in 25 large pork
processing plants in 13 states, and found only two other plants - one in
Indiana, the other in Nebraska - that used compressed air to remove pigs'
brains. Minnesota health officials said the pork plants in all three states,
including Indiana, have voluntarily stopped the practice.
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- The Indiana pork industry employs more than 13,000 people,
and generates an estimated $44 million of personal income and
$3 billion to Indiana's economy each year, according to a Purdue University
report. That same report supports the idea that Indiana is a prime state
for pork production and expansion because it has an abundant feed supply,
pork processing facilities within the state, available labor force, a large
cropland base for manure utilization as fertilizer, and quick access to
large consumer markets in Chicago and the East coast.
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- Gary Jacobson, president of Indiana Packers Corp. in
Delphi, said today his company is not the plant involved, but has been
in contact with CDC and is trying to stay informed on the issue to update
employees.
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- Any facility that processes meat is going to encounter
hazards, which is why safety gear is a must.
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- "People look like they are suit of armor when they
go to work here," Jacobson said. The company has discontinued the
practice of harvesting brains until "somebody has some kind of idea"
what happened, he said. Harvesting brains are a small part of the practice.
- In the Minnesota case, health officials initially suspect
the workers were exposed to something in the brain tissue that triggered
the illness. Officials are continuing to investigate, but so far they haven't
identified any viruses or bacteria that could be causing the disease. They've
also ruled out chemical toxins.
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- Five of the 12 workers afflicted were initially diagnosed
with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or CIDP, a rare
immune disorder that attacks the nerves and produces tingling, numbness
and weakness in the arms and legs, sometimes causing lasting damage. But
Minnesota officials later backed away from that diagnosis, saying additional
tests showed none of the workers fit the precise diagnosis.
-
- Minnesota state epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield said the
discovery of the Indiana illness could help her investigation. "That
may help us figure out why these workers are getting sick," she said.
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- The Associated Press contributed information to this
article.
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- http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080117/LOCAL/801170512/0/NLETTER08
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- <http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php>http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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