Asthma-Like Illness Among Crab-Processing Workers – Alaska

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  At the request of the Alaska Department of Labor, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is investigating the incidence of newly developed asthma-like symptoms (marked dyspnea and wheezing) among crab-processing workers in the Dutch Harbor area on the Aleutian island of Unalaska. Data were collected between March 13 and May 13, 1981, when 46 crab-processing workers with marked dyspnea and wheezing visited the Iliuliuk Family Health Service Clinic, the sole provider of medical care in Dutch Harbor. Of the 46, 10 were from neighboring is lands or offshore processing ships; 3 had a history of having had similar symptoms before. The other 33 workers (mean age 23 years, range 18-30), who were employed in 4 seafood-processing plants in the immediate Dutch Harbor area, gave no history of previously experiencing such symptoms. The combined employment of these 4 plants was approximately 825 crab-processing workers, giving an approximate rate for development of dyspnea with wheeze ("crab asthma'') of 2 cases/100 workers/month for the crab-processing season. This is at least 80 times the monthly incidence of new cases of asthma and 8 times the incidence of new cases of bronchitis with wheeze reported for groups of Americans of similar age. ... Although further investigation is needed to confirm the cause of the respiratory symptoms occurring among crab-processing workers, modifications to the current processing methods, work practices, and environmental controls may be as successful in reducing the incidence of respiratory symptoms among crab processing workers... [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Food-Processing Industry Food Handling Food Industry Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Alaska Bronchial Asthma Bronchitis Environmental Control Food Processing Food Processing Industry Food Processing Workers Lung Disorders Meat Handlers Occupational Asthma Pulmonary System Disorders Respiratory System Disorders Seaman Work Operations Work Practices

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• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  3 pdf pages
• Volume:
  31
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055773
• Citation:
  MMWR 1982 Mar; 31(8):95-96
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8903a52650080f49fdcc5084405376187ad48e752d44984cdf41fc2d1a7ad865fbf89d1dbe0252447ccc19e2db08bdaff0555598d971c6de34ea820e3b846b98
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183021/cdc_183021_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 325.44 KB ]