COVID-19 Among Meat and Poultry Processing Workers, Spring 2020

Meat and poultry processing plants face distinctive challenges in controlling infectious disease. Workers stand close together (within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more) through 8- to 12-hour shifts, share work spaces and rides, often live in shared housing, and see coworkers often in the community — factors that also help spread the virus beyond the plant. An earlier CDC assessment had documented 4,913 cases and 20 deaths among workers at 115 plants in 19 states through April 27, 2020. This MMWR update, published in July 2020, asked every state for data through May 31.

What states reported

Twenty-eight of the 50 states responded, 23 of them with at least one confirmed case among processing workers.

• 239 facilities reported 16,233 cases and 86 deaths (0.5%). The median state had seven affected plants (interquartile range 3–14).
• In the 14 states that reported total workforce, 9.1% of 112,616 workers at affected plants had COVID-19 diagnosed; by plant, the share ranged from 3.1% to 24.5%.
• Of cases with known sex, 60% were male; of those with known age, 46% were 40–59.
• Of the 9,919 cases with known race or ethnicity, 56% were Hispanic, 19% Black, 13% White and 12% Asian.
• Of the 10,284 cases with known symptom status, 88% had symptoms and 12% were asymptomatic or presymptomatic.

Characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 cases among meat and poultry processing workers, 21 states, April–May 2020. CDC figure.

What the plants did

Information on interventions was available for 111 facilities in 14 states:

At seven plants that tested their whole workforce, 14.4% of 5,572 workers who tested positive had no symptoms or had not yet developed them. The model's pooled estimate for asymptomatic or presymptomatic infection among processing workers was 11.2% (95% confidence interval 0.9%–23.1%).

What it means

The animal slaughtering and processing industry employs an estimated 525,000 people at about 3,500 facilities. Adding the earlier assessment's data from six states that did not send updates (1,125 cases and five deaths), at least 17,358 cases and 91 deaths had occurred among U.S. meat and poultry processing workers.

Unequal burden. In the 21 states that reported race and ethnicity, the industry's workers were about 39% White, 30% Hispanic, 25% Black and 6% Asian — yet Hispanic and Asian workers made up larger shares of cases than of the workforce, suggesting they were disproportionately affected. Prevention strategies and messages, the authors wrote, need to be tailored to the groups most affected.

Hidden infections. In outbreaks in other crowded settings, 19% to 88% of infections had no symptoms or were presymptomatic, and estimates from cruise ship passengers and evacuees from Wuhan, China, ranged from 17.9% to 30.8%. The lower figure here probably reflects that few plants tested everyone, so many infections likely went unrecognized and case counts are underestimates.

Many plants, working with health agencies, had taken steps to limit spread, including offering tests, and many also taught workers how to reduce transmission outside work. Expanding these measures nationwide, including comprehensive testing, could protect workers in this and other food production and agricultural industries.

Limitations include that only 28 states responded and only plants with a confirmed case were included; outbreaks and deaths may have been linked to plants late or not at all; testing practices varied and were not reported; and race and ethnicity comparisons relied on industry-wide rather than plant-level data, with much demographic and symptom information missing.

Sources

• Waltenburg MA, Victoroff T, Rose CE, et al. "Update: COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities — United States, April–May 2020." MMWR 2020;69(27). The report's social-media image is not reproduced.