Hand warts among butchers in a supermarket in São Paulo

Butchers are exposed to biological hazards as a function of their continuous handling of meat containing blood, fat and fluids. Biological hazards include contamination with viruses, such as the papillomavirus (HPV), especially HPV type 7, which is associated with the so-called "butcher's wart."

To investigate wart-like lesions among meat handlers.

Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at a supermarket in São Paulo in 2017. Twenty-four employees allocated to the meat handling section were interviewed and subjected to skin visual examination; lesions were photographed.

Most participants were male (87.5%) and half of them (50.0%) were within age range 31 to 40 years old. Only one employee had started working in this section less than 2 years earlier. Wart-like lesions or scars with black dots on their center were found on the hands of 11 butchers (45.8%).

Almost half of the participants had history of hand warts. Most of the participants with lesions were male, aged up to 40, right-handed and had worked as meat handlers for 2 years at least. We might infer we found cases of wart-like occupational dermatosis among butchers at a supermarket in São Paulo.