Indoor Airborne Fungi as Important Occupational Sensitisers in Poultry Workers

Abstract

The type and quantity of airborne fungi in the environment of poultry farms were studied for 2 consecutive years from April 1989 to March 1991. Sam pling was done using volumetric Andersen six-stage and Burkard personal slide samplers. The specific IgE and IgG levels in the sera of workers were measured by ELISA techniques. Where poultry were kept indoors, the air had high concentrations of certain fungi. Candida albicans, smut, Scopulariopsis brevicaulis and Penicillium nigricans were found to be characteristic fungi of poultry sheds, while Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium and Alternaria spp. were those of a hatchery. ELISA measurements of the sera of poultry workers revealed that Aspergillus sydowi, Neurospora sitophila, Asper gillus japonicus and S. brevicaulis were eliciting raised IgE in a greater number of workers compared to a control group. Poultry workers had slightly raised IgG antibodies to A. sydowi, Aspergillus ochraceous and Aspergillus fumiga tus.