ABSTRACT
The response of the Bolsonaro government to the COVID-19 pandemic was ridden with inconsistencies and delayed action. The president continuously denied the severity of the pandemic and propagated the anti-malaria drug chloroquine as a possible treatment. Political allies of the president profited financially from government orders to produce the drug. The federal government paid an emergency basic income to poorer citizens during 2020, leading to the lowest inequality rates on record in poorer regions. However, in 2021 inflation in food prices and gas for cooking led to falling wages and widespread hunger and misery, with more than 30 million people acutely affected by hunger. Occupational groups that were affected disproportionately by dismissals and work-related deaths due to COVID-19 were workers in public transport, in slaughterhouses, in the health sector and domestic workers. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Objective: To examine the impact of the outbreak of novel Coronavirus disease (COVlD-19) upon public health-related knowledge. belief and practice among the public in China for providing references to public health decision-making.
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This special issue contains 6 articles that discuss justice, rights, and health. Topics include: health rights, ecological justice, and anthropocentrism;rights and COVID-19;slaughterhouse workers, animals, and the environment;One Health, COVID-19, and a right to health for human and non-human animals;human rights and pesticide exposure and poisoning in children;and moral status and moral agency.
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The work in the production of animal protein in slaughterhouses involves the exposure to several occupational risk factors. At present, it has been recently associated with the pandemic context related to the biological agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The slaughterhouse sector has been shown to be a critical focus of concentration and spread of cases in Brazil and worldwide. Among the strategies adopted for worker's protection, there is a clear need for collective protection, supplemented by individual protection. With regard to SARS-CoV-2 and to the risk for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), respiratory protection is essential and well-established by the competent agencies and by the scientific community, since the respiratory route is considered the route of transmission and of risk of contagion. The aim of this review was to analyze the indication of use with regard to the frequency for changing respiratory protectors when working at slaughterhouses. The study involved a literature review, conducted on databases available on the internet. The search considered journal articles, dissertations, and theses published in Portuguese and English on scientific data bases from 2006 to 2020. Based on this review, it was possible to show that, in slaughterhouses, especially due to temperature and humidity conditions, facial respirator masks should be discarded after each work shift.
ABSTRACT
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a respiratory disease caused by a zoonotic coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Camel handlers, including slaughterhouse workers and herders, are at risk of acquiring MERS-CoV infections. However, there is limited evidence of infections among camel handlers in Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the presence of antibodies to MERS-CoV in high-risk groups in Kenya. Sera collected from 93 camel handlers, 58 slaughterhouse workers and 35 camel herders, were screened for MERS-CoV antibodies using ELISA and PRNT. We found four seropositive slaughterhouse workers by PRNT. Risk factors amongst the slaughterhouse workers included being the slaughterman (the person who cuts the throat of the camel) and drinking camel blood. Further research is required to understand the epidemiology of MERS-CoV in Africa in relation to occupational risk, with a need for additional studies on the transmission of MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans, seroprevalence and associated risk factors.