House, Hans R.Vakkalanka, J. PriyankaBehrens, Nathan G.Haan, Jessica DeHalbur, Christopher R.Harrington, Elaine M.Patel, Pooja H.Rawwas, LuluaCamargo, Carlos A.Kline, Jeffrey A.2022-01-112022-01-112021-09House, H. R., Vakkalanka, J. P., Behrens, N. G., Haan, J. D., Halbur, C. R., Harrington, E. M., Patel, P. H., Rawwas, L., Camargo, C. A., & Kline, J. A. (2021). Agricultural workers in meatpacking plants presenting to an emergency department with suspected COVID-19 infection are disproportionately Black and Hispanic. Academic Emergency Medicine, 28(9), 1012-1018. https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.143141553-2712https://hdl.handle.net/1805/27355Objective Facilities that process and package meat for consumer sale and consumption (meatpacking plants) were early sites of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks. The aim of this study was to characterize the association between meatpacking plant exposure and clinical outcomes among emergency department (ED) patients with COVID-19 symptoms. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of patients presenting to a single ED, from March 1 to May 31, 2020, who had: 1) symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and 2) a COVID-19 test performed. The primary outcome was COVID-19 positivity, and secondary outcomes included hospital admission from the ED, ventilator use, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, hospital length of stay (LOS; <48 or ≥48 h), and mortality. Results Patients from meatpacking plants were more likely to be Black or Hispanic than the ED patients without this occupational exposure. Patients with a meatpacking plant exposure were more likely to test positive for COVID-19 (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.59 to 3.53) but had similar rates of hospital admission (aRR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.82 to 1.07) and hospital LOS (aRR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.45 to 1.23). There was no significant difference in ventilator use among patients with meatpacking and nonmeatpacking plant exposure (8.2% vs. 11.1%, p = 0.531), ICU admissions (4.1% vs. 12.0%, p = 0.094), and mortality (2.0% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.473). Conclusions Workers in meatpacking plants in Iowa had a higher rate of testing positive for COVID-19 but were not more likely to be hospitalized for their illness. These patients were disproportionately Black and Hispanic.enPublisher PolicyAgricultural WorkersCOVID-19Meatpacking PlantsArticle