Health problems in veterinary students after visiting a commercial swine farm

In October 1993 and 1994, respectively, 77 and 76 third-year veterinary students visited a swine farm to work with pigs for 3 h. On both occasions, a large number of students reported flu-like symptoms after the visit. To further investigate this, the students were presented with a questionnaire modeled after the standard questionnaire used for evaluating organic dust exposure. General and/or respiratory symptoms were reported by 103/142 (72.5%) students. General symptoms, such as eye irritation, headache and tiredness were experienced by 60/103 (42.2%) students. Cough, nasal and throat irritation, and sinus trouble were the most prevalent respiratory symptoms and were reported by 94/103 (91%) of the students. Symptoms mostly developed the same day and disappeared within 3 d after exposure. The presence of respiratory and/or general symptoms was not significantly different between students who wore a mask during the lab or those who did not. Students with pre-existing allergies were more likely to develop respiratory symptoms than non-allergic students.