Authors:
Raimond Lugert Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075 Göttingen, Germany

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Uwe Groß Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075 Göttingen, Germany

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Wycliffe O. Masanta Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075 Göttingen, Germany

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Gunter Linsel Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Biological Agents, Nöldnerstraße 40-42, 10317 Berlin, Germany

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Astrid Heutelbeck Institute for Occupational, Social and Evironmental Medicine, University Medical Center Göttingen, Waldweg 37b, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

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Andreas E. Zautner Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075 Göttingen, Germany

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Psittacosis is a zoonotic infectious disease that is caused by Chlamydophila psittaci. To determine the occupational risk of getting the infection, we investigated the seroprevalence of C. psittaci among employees of two German duck farms and two slaughterhouses according to their level of exposure to the pathogen during the years 2010, 2007, and 2004. In summary, we found low seroprevalence (≈ 8%) throughout the study population almost irrespective of the duty of a given worker. Surprisingly, in 2010, the anti-C. psittaci-specific antibody prevalence in the group of slaughterer (38.9%) was significantly increased in comparison to the non-exposed employees (p = 0.00578). This indicates that individuals in the surrounding of slaughterhouses exposed especially to aerosols containing C. psittaci elementary bodies bear a greater occupational risk of getting infected.

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Senior editors

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Dunay, Ildiko Rita, Prof. Dr. Pharm, Dr. rer. nat., University of Magdeburg, Germany

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Heimesaat, Markus M., Prof. Dr. med., Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Germany

Editorial Board

  • Berit Bangoura, Dr. DVM. PhD,  University of Wyoming, USA
  • Stefan Bereswill, Prof. Dr. rer. nat., Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Germany
  • Dunja Bruder, Prof. Dr. rer. nat., University of Magdeburg, Germany
  • Jan Buer, Prof. Dr. med., University of Duisburg, Germany
  • Edit Buzas, Prof. Dr. med., Semmelweis University, Hungary
  • Renato Damatta, Prof. PhD, UENF, Brazil
  • Maria Deli, MD, PhD, DSc, Biological Research Center, HAS, Hungary
  • Olgica Djurković-Djaković, Prof. Phd, University of Belgrade, Serbia
  • Jean-Dennis Docquier, Prof. Dr. med., University of Siena, Italy
  • Zsuzsanna Fabry, Prof. Phd, University of Washington, USA
  • Ralf Ignatius, Prof. Dr. med., Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Germany
  • Achim Kaasch, Prof. Dr. med., Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany
  • Oliver Liesenfeld, Prof. Dr. med., Inflammatix, USA
  • Matyas Sandor, Prof. PhD, University of Wisconsin, USA
  • Ulrich Steinhoff, Prof. PhD, University of Marburg, Germany
  • Michal Toborek, Prof. PhD, University of Miami, USA
  • Susanne A. Wolf, PhD, MDC-Berlin, Germany

 

Dr. Dunay, Ildiko Rita
Magdeburg, Germany
E-mail: ildiko.dunay@med.ovgu.de

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European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology
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European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology
Language English
Size A4
Year of
Foundation
2011
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1
Issues
per Year
4
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
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ISSN 2062-509X (Print)
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