A health hazard evaluation of pheasant handlers

Motivated by complaints of respiratory symptoms at a large state pheasant breeding farm, an evaluation of the health hazards of pheasant handling was undertaken. Pheasant workers (N = 24) were compared with age-, sex-, and smoking-status-matched controls (N = 23) without occupational or home exposure to birds by a respiratory questionnaire, pulmonary function testing (before and after the season and pre- and post-shift), a number of fungal and chlamydial serology tests, and hypersensitivity immunoprecipitins. Despite a number of important differences in the prevalence of symptoms in the pheasant workers, no differences were found in the results of pulmonary function testing or serology tests. These data suggest that the symptoms were likely because of local irritant effects rather than via immunologic or infectious mechanisms.