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Updated: May 18, 2026

The Use of Traditional Fear Tests to Evaluate Different Emotional Circuits in Cattle
Published on: April 22, 2020
Neurologic symptoms associated with cattle farming in the agricultural health study
Leora Vegosen1, Meghan F Davis, Ellen Silbergeld
1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. lvegosen@jhsph.edu
Objective:
Infection with Campylobacter jejuni, a bacterium carried by poultry and livestock, is the most frequently identified antecedent to the autoimmune neurologic condition Guillain-Barré Syndrome. We used Agricultural Health Study data to assess whether cattle farming was associated with prevalence of neurologic symptoms.
Methods:
Prevalence of self-reported symptoms in cattle farmers (n = 8878) was compared with farmers who did not work with animals (n = 7462), using multivariate regression.
Results:
Prevalence of numbness and weakness were increased for beef and dairy farmers compared with the reference group (P < 0.0001). Of cattle farmers, 48% did not report raising other animal species, and prevalence of numbness and weakness were also increased in this subgroup compared with the reference group (P < 0.02).
Conclusions:
Occupational exposure to cattle was associated with increased prevalence of self-reported symptoms associated with peripheral neuropathy.
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