Reducing skin microbiome exposure impacts through swine farm biosecurity

Area of Science:

• Occupational health
• Microbiome research
• Environmental microbiology

Background:

• Livestock workers, particularly swine workers, face unique exposures to animal-associated microbiomes.
• Investigating the swine worker microbiome is challenging due to the controlled environments of commercial operations.
• Limited understanding exists regarding the effects of animal exposure and biosecurity on swine worker microbiomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the temporal dynamics of the swine worker microbiome.
• To assess the impact of occupational exposures on the skin microbiome.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of biosecurity protocols in mitigating microbiome changes.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study design involving US swine workers.
• Collection of unique biological samples to analyze microbiome composition.
• Analysis of bacterial DNA load, microbial taxa, resistance genes, and mobile genetic elements.

Main Results:

• A significant increase in bacterial DNA load was observed on worker skin throughout the workday.
• Concurrent shifts in microbial taxa, resistance genes, and mobile genetic elements occurred.
• Mandatory end-of-workday showering partially restored the skin microbiome and resistome.

Conclusions:

• Work-associated microbiome alterations in swine workers were identified.
• Existing biosecurity practices, such as showering, can effectively reduce microbiome impacts.
• These findings highlight the importance of hygiene protocols in mitigating occupational microbial exposures.