Pork worker struck with neurological illness

10-03-2008 | |

A former worker at a Hormel Foods pork plant in Fremont, Nebraska, has the same neurological illness that hit meatpackers in Minnesota and Indiana.

Chief medical officer for the state of Nebraska, Dr Joanne Schaefer, confirmed that a meatpacker has contracted a condition officials are calling progressive inflammatory neuropathy, or PIN.

The man apparently worked in a part of the processing plant that uses a high-pressure air system to remove pig brains, like the workers in Minnesota and Indiana.

“The plant has stopped the process in question,” said Schaefer. “We have interviewed his family and anyone potentially exposed to that process and have one confirmed case.”

Schaefer said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will follow up with more interviews next week.

She emphasised that “the food chain is safe, and general public shouldn’t have any worries”.

Related website:

• Hormel Foods

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