Occupational Skin Infections

Occupations	High-Risk Job Task	Diseases
Dentist Dental assistant Dental hygienist Physician Physician assistant Respiratory therapist Paramedic	Work in patients’ mouths	Herpetic whitlow
Farmer & Rancher Farmworker Animal scientist Animal breeder Veterinarian	Touch infected farm animals	Cutaneous Anthrax Erysipeloid Orf Ringworm
Farmer & Rancher Farmworker Groundskeeper Laborer	Walk barefooted in contaminated soil	Chromomycosis Mycetoma Cutaneous larva migrans
Florist Farmer & Rancher Farmworker Groundskeeper Horticulturist Materials processor Tree trimmer	Touch plants containing thorns, splinters or spaghum moss	Sporotrichosis
Slaughterer Meat packer Butcher	Touch infected meat or poultry	Erysipeloid Streptococcal suis skin infection Viral warts
Fisher	Touch infected fish or shellfish	Erysipeloid Mycobacterium marinum skin infection Vibrio vulnificus infection
Dishwasher Poultry processor Cannery processor Bartender	Work continuously with wet hands	Candida paronychia
Groundskeeper Aquarium keeper	Clean pools or aquariums	Mycobacterium marinum skin infection
Hunter & Trapper Laborer	Work in forest in endemic areas of Central and South America	Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
NIOSH - Photolibrary (photos: Herpetic fingers, M. marinum, Milker's Nodule and Orf) NIOSH - Photolibrary (photos: Anthrax, Sporotrichosis, Chromomycosis & T. verrucosum) DermIS - Larva migrans cutanea (photos) DPDx - Hookworm CDC - Sporotrichosis DermIS - Erysipeloid (photo, 38K)

References: Control of Communicable Diseases Manual; "Occupational Infections" by Dieckhaus KD & Garibaldi RA in Rom; "Occupational Infections" by Cohen R in LaDou; p. 280-281 in Marks & DeLeo;

Revised May 30, 2018