Source:  Ann Bagel Storck, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 12/2/09

The mysterious illnesses in Minnesota and Indiana pork plant workers from November 2006 to May 2008 were caused by an autoimmune response to a mist of pig brain tissue, confirmed a report published Monday in the medical journal Lancet Neurology.

The study, which billed itself as the first comprehensive account of the outbreak and response from the Mayo Clinic, the Minnesota Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that patients in Minnesota reported symptoms within weeks of an increase in line speed in 2006. All the ill workers worked in or near areas where compressed air was used to extract pig brains.

Researchers also found that the extent to which workers got sick was affected by how closely they worked to the head table.

The study does not detail the exact biological mechanism of the disease, which researchers said might never be known.

The 24 affected workers, who worked at Quality Pork Processors in Austin, Minn., and an unnamed plant in Delphi, Ind., all are improving, and most no longer have measurable symptoms. The facilities have both stopped removing brains using compressed air.

To read the full Lancet article, click here. 

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