Risk of adverse pregnancy outcome in women exposed to livestock: a study within the Danish National Birth Cohort

Abstract

SUMMARYMaternal infection in pregnancy is a known risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcome, and a number of zoonotic pathogens may constitute a risk to pregnant women and their fetuses. With animal contact as a proxy for the risk of zoonotic infection, this study aimed to evaluate pregnancy outcome in women with self-reported occupational or domestic contact with livestock compared to pregnant women without such contact. The Danish National Birth Cohort collected information on pregnancy outcome from 100 418 pregnant women (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002) from which three study populations with occupational and/or domestic exposure to livestock and a reference group of women with no animal contact was sampled. Outcome measures were miscarriage, very preterm birth (before gestational week 32), preterm birth (before 37 gestational weeks), small for gestational age (SGA), and perinatal death. Adverse reproductive outcomes were assessed in four different exposure groups of women with occupational or domestic exposure to livestock with no association found between exposure to livestock and miscarriage, preterm birth, SGA or perinatal death. These findings should diminish general occupational health concerns for pregnant women with exposures to a range of different farm animals.

Risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and seroprevalence for brucellosis in pregnant women exposed to goats or raw goat products in southern Thailand: a prospective cohort study

“…No association was found between exposure to goats and raw goat products with adverse pregnancy outcomes in our study, which was similar to the findings of a large cohort study from Denmark, although the study designs and methodologies were different. Compared to our study, the Denmark study focused on a wide variety of animals rather than goats only, and short duration for notification of exposure collected and the study reported lower rate of cutaneous contact [32]. Although approximately one-third of the women in our study said they had been exposed to goats and raw goat products at least one time before this current pregnancy, they were less likely to be exposed during pregnancy as also found in previous studies [33–35].…”

“…This was likely related to ritual Islamic activities as the majority of our participants were Muslim, such as “Aqeeqah”, the ritual animal sacrifice on the occasion of a new birth, and “Qurbani”, the Islamic religious practice of an animal sacrifice offering to Allah [47]. Good hand hygiene practicing among people having extensive exposure to animal raising or contaminated environments and avoiding food-borne zoonosis by cooking meat well or boiling milk before consuming them should be promoted [32, 48]. For women, an explanation of the dangers involved with being around goats can be explained during ANC visits; however, a previous study found a low rate of healthcare providers gave information about hand or food hygiene for their patients who exposed to animals [49].…”