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Covid-19: multiplication of cases in slaughterhouses in several countries

The cases of Covid-19 are multiplying in the abattoirs of several countries and the experts still do not understand the reasons, undoubtedly related to the promiscuity, but perhaps also with conditions of cold and ventilation specific to these factories.

How many cases?

Slaughterhouse closures have increased in the United States after numerous cases of contamination. Four controllers responsible for enforcing health rules died after contracting the disease.

At the end of April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States estimated that the number of employees in Covid-19 positive meat and poultry processing plants was close to 5,000.

In Germany, more than 90 cases have been discovered in recent days in a slaughterhouse in Lower Saxony, after several hundred others in several regions since April.

In France, two slaughterhouses in the west of the country have been affected in recent days, with at least 100 cases (other tests are in progress).

Other cases have notably been reported in Australia, Spain and Brazil.

“The large number of epidemics in meat processing plants around the world requires investigation”, professor AFRA Raina MacIntyre of the University of New South Wales near Sydney told AFP.

Is meat involved?

This question arises in light of a previous epidemic caused by another coronavirus, that of Mers (Middle East respiratory syndrome), in progress since 2012.

A study published in 2015 in the journal Infection Ecology & Epidemiology showed that a large part of the dromedaries taken to the slaughterhouse in Doha, Qatar, carried this virus, MERS-CoV. According to the researchers, these places were “vectors of its circulation and high risk areas for human exposure”.

At this stage, however, this is not the hypothesis that scientists favor to explain the multiplication of cases of Covid-19 in slaughterhouses, linked according to them to the activity itself.

In notices published at the beginning of March and then at the end of April, the French health security agency Anses concluded that there was no “currently no scientific evidence showing that domestic animals (livestock and pets) play a role” in the spread of the virus.

ANSES rejected the hypothesis that one could be contaminated by eating an infected food, even if “the possibility of respiratory tract infection during chewing cannot be completely excluded”. Especially since the coronavirus is neutralized by cooking.

Working conditions ?

Promiscuity of workers, and therefore difficulty in applying barrier gestures, in a confined environment: this is currently the main track.

“Gathering large numbers of people and having them work for long periods with many opportunities for transmission is likely to increase the risk”said Professor Archie Clements, an epidemiologist at Australian Curtin University, to AFP.

An opinion shared by Paul Auffray, French pig breeder and vice-president of the National Pork Federation: “In slaughterhouses as in all companies where there are staff, there is inevitably overcrowding. So even with barrier measures, there is more risk”, he assures AFP.

“The physically exhausting side of this work can be an obstacle to wearing a mask, if breathing becomes uncomfortable”, adds Professor MacIntyre.

Another criterion is the living conditions of workers, which differ from country to country.

In Germany, poor working conditions are pointed out, as is the massive use of foreign subcontracting companies. The slaughterhouses employ many immigrants from Eastern Europe, living and working in precarious hygienic conditions.

“These occupations are stressful, and workers often come from categories where smoking and other lifestyles predispose to respiratory illnesses, so it is possible that this group is more at risk than others”, also notes Professor Clements, who himself worked in a slaughterhouse in the past.

However, all this does not explain why this industry seems particularly vulnerable compared to other sectors.

In terms of promiscuity and social conditions, “I don’t think that slaughterhouses are very specific in the industry which involves line work”, notes Professor Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva.

Cold and ventilation?

Last hypothesis, that of conditions specific to slaughterhouses, which would facilitate the spread of the virus: cold, humidity (necessary for meat) and ventilation circuit.

It’s not proven yet, but in theory, “It’s entirely possible”, according to Professor Flahault.

If confirmed, this would support the hypothesis of a transmission of the virus via fine droplets exhaled by patients who circulate in the air (aerosols, in scientific jargon), and not only via the postillions, more heavy.

Strongly considered, the existence of this mode of transmission is not yet scientifically proven.

Work in the meat industry “involves quick physical tasks, thus generating a lot of aerosols in a cold and closed environment, which could multiply the risk of transmission if a person is infected”, says Professor MacIntyre.

“We saw nothing significant about the fact that refrigeration or air conditioning could have an effect on contamination”, assures AFP Mathieu Pecqueur, director general of the French professional union Culture Viande.

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