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Objectives: There is no pesticide related illness (PRI) surveillance program in Illinois. This study examines the quality of state-based data sources for their ability to inform public health surveillance on PRI., Methods: We estimated the counts of PRI by probabilistic data linkage of hospital discharge, emergency department, and poison center databases from 2010 to 2015. We characterized identified PRI cases., Results: We identified 3867 unique cases of PRI and 6269 asymptomatic pesticide exposures. Out of the 3867 PRI cases, there were 1319 emergency department visits and 321 hospitalizations. We identified 13 deaths and 1640 major or moderate effects from PRI. Over half of ingestion related exposures occurred in children aged 0 to 4 years. Workers' compensation and Emergency Medical Service data were unusable., Conclusion: An effective public health surveillance on PRI requires reliable state data sources and cost-effective methods of assembling data from multiple sources.

Background: Workers in poultry processing and pork meatpacking have high rates of acute injuries and chronic disease among. The presence of zoonotic pathogens in these workplaces may interact with injury., Methods: We investigated incidence of worker injuries, lacerations, and infections reported by 10 companies from 2004 to 2009 and calculated annual incidence rates by industry and company along with temporal trends and job-related risk factors., Results: Average annual mean total injury rates were 6.4 per 100 workers (poultry) and 13.2 per 100 workers (pork). Average annual mean rates for lacerations were 1.8 per 100 workers (poultry) and 1.9 per 100 (pork). Sharp tools and animal products were most frequently reported as sources for lacerations. Animal products were most frequently reported as sources of infected lacerations., Conclusions: The results indicate that these industries continue to have high injury rates. The results also suggest that zoonotic pathogens may be preventable health and safety risks., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)