Co-ordinating fight against leptospirosis vital

August 08, 2007

Co-ordinating the fight against leptospirosis will be vital

A new report by the Department of Labour on leptospirosis highlights the need for a well co-ordinated response to tackling New Zealand’s most frequently occurring occupationally acquired infectious disease.

Leptospirosis is the world’s most commonly transmitted disease from animals to humans, and its incidence in New Zealand is considered high. It can make people mildly to very sick, with symptoms including headaches, muscle pain, fever, and nausea. Severe cases may progress to renal and respiratory failure and it is potentially fatal.

The new Department of Labour report reviews developments in New Zealand since the Department produced its world-leading 2001 guidelines to help workplaces reduce the risk of workers acquiring leptospirosis.

Dr Geraint Emrys, the Department’s Chief Advisor - Occupational Health, says this latest report brings together the views of employers, employees, industry groups, researchers, general practitioners, ACC and other health agencies.

“It is extremely unlikely that leptospirosis will be entirely eliminated from New Zealand. Therefore the priority must be to isolate and minimise the hazard,” says Dr Emrys. “The purpose of this report is to review recent developments relating to leptospirosis, to gain ideas on how it might be better controlled.

“A lot of work is going on by different groups. For example, scientists have been interested in using vaccines in sheep, while the meat processing industry has been looking at protective clothing and equipment for workers. The Department of Labour is interested in ensuring these different threads are pulled together.”

There were a number of findings in the report, including that:

- not enough is known about how often leptospirosis occurs in people and in farm animals;

- not enough is known about what the best methods of prevention are. This applies mainly to meat workers; and

- it is unclear how effective methods such as vaccines and protective equipment are in preventing the disease from being transmitted.

“A lot more work still needs to be done to better understand and tackle the incidence of leptospirosis in New Zealand,” says Dr Emrys.

ENDS.

The full report is available at www.dol.govt.nz

Background notes on Leptospirosis:

* Leptospirosis is a bacteria that infects farm animals and rodents.

* People can be infected when exposed to the urine of farm animals and rodents, through which the bacteria is transmitted.

* Leptospirosis is New Zealand’s most common occupationally acquired infectious disease. It mainly affects those in rural communities – those who work on farms and in forestry, as well as those working in the meat processing industry.

* Symptoms include fever, severe and persistent headache, chills and rigors, muscular pains, eye irritation and photophobia, nausea – with or without vomiting, appetite loss, sweating, and jaundice.

* Illness caused by the strains of leptospirosis found in New Zealand is seldom fatal, although deaths have been recorded.

* A case was recently highlighted in the media, in which ACC accepted a claim from the widow of a man who died after becoming ill while working in a slaughterhouse.

* Since leptospirosis is a serious illness, it is a significant hazard as defined by the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.

* Its incidence in New Zealand is high in comparison to with other temperate developed countries. In New Zealand leptospirosis is a notifiable disease.

* Annual number of cases:

Recent annual number of
cases in New Zealand:
2004 102
2005 86
2006 89

* Data from the meat industry indicates that on average each case results in 6 weeks away from work. So for a 40 hour work week, at $25 per hour, means a person looses $6000 over this period.

* It is estimated that on average each case costs some $1500 in direct medical costs, when hospitalisation is taken into account. Some 45 percent of those who are affected require hospital treatment.

* So a conservative implied cost of 112 cases per year (the average number of cases each year since the 2001 guidelines were introduced) would be $7500 per case, or a minimum annual cost to New Zealand of $840,000.

ENDS

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