h/t Instapundit
Keep your mouth closed, please.
At first, we thought this week's issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Report was utterly run-of-the-mill.
We skimmed a report on leisure-time activity among adults with and without arthritis and an update on flu activity before we were stopped in our tracks by something we'd never seen before: a case report on Campylobacter jejuni infections contracted by two people working on a sheep ranch, apparently because they used their teeth to castrate some lambs.
C. jejuni is frequently transmitted by fecal-oral contact or consuming contaminated food or water. And infections are commonly associated with eating poultry or unpasteurized dairy products, the report notes.
But these two workers didn't report consuming those food items. Nor did they share food or water. Their common bond: of the 12 people who worked to castrate and dock tails of 1,600 lambs at a Wyoming sheep ranch in June, they were the only two who reported using their teeth as castration aids.
And, during the event, "a few lambs reportedly had a mild diarrheal illness," the report says. C. jejuni was later isolated in two lambs.
The men, too, came down with diarrhea, and one also suffered from abdominal cramps, fever, nausea and vomiting. One was hospitalized for a day; both fully recovered. Lab testing suggested the infection by C. jejuni was from a common source.
The ranch owners and employees, the MMWR notes, were advised to use standard methods for castrating the lambs -- not including the teeth.
Kerry Pride, an author of the report and veterinarian, tells us via email that "this method has and does occur." It was more common in the 1800s, but still goes on, Pride says, speaking for herself and not the CDC. |