The U.S. dairy industry relies heavily on an immigrant workforce, originating primarily from Latin American countries, with diverse backgrounds and various degrees of dairy work experience. Serious gaps in formal education and dairy knowledge, in addition to working with livestock and specialized heavy equipment and other hazards in the work environment, put dairy workers at risk of work-related injuries and illnesses.

Editor's Note: Read the first part of this story, What are zoonotic diseases? Where are the risks? While microorganisms able to cause disease can be found anywhere on the dairy, below are a few areas of the operation known to pose zoonotic risks to workers.

Editor's Note: Read the second part of this story, Preventing zoonotic disease on the dairy. Those working in close contact with dairy cattle may be exposed to a variety of microorganisms that can cause disease. Some of these microorganisms can affect both humans and non-human animal species. A disease that can be transmitted between humans and other animal species is called a zoonotic disease or zoonosis.

Strategic vaccination programs are an important component of herd health management for dairy operations. A successful vaccination program should reduce the incidence and limit the effects of disease in the herd while minimizing adverse health and production effects in vaccinated animals.