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BACKGROUND: County fairs pose a risk for human illness from food, water, and animals. Outbreaks associated with county fairs are investigated annually in Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) was awarded a competitive pilot grant through the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center to create workshops addressing county fair issues. The workshop goals were three-fold, provide education about risks for illness and injury; offer best practices to those involved in county fairs (county fair boards, veterinarians, petting zoo operators, 4-H, Future Farmers of America (FFA), and University of Minnesota (UMN) Extension); and build relationships between fair groups and governmental agencies (MDH, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (MBAH), and local public health agencies) that may regulate fairs or investigate an outbreak.
METHODS: In order to meet our goals, day-long “Healthy Fairs” workshops were developed. The One Health model was used, which addresses human, animal, and environmental health issues, and how they are related to each other. We sought endorsement for the workshops from the Minnesota Federation of County Fairs (MFCF), a professional organization representing 95 Minnesota county fairs. Workshops were held regionally throughout Minnesota. Electronic and U.S. mail invitations were employed with additional marketing through Facebook, agricultural websites and listservs, and local radio and newspaper press releases. The workshops were free and included lunch. Online registration was set-up through the MDH website. At each workshop a sanitarian presented on environmental health, an epidemiologist presented on human health, and a veterinarian presented on animal health. Each topic area presentation was followed by a question/answer period, and small group discussion.
RESULTS: From June 2013 to April 2014 four workshops were held in different regions of Minnesota with support from MFCF. A total of 126 people attended the workshops. Fifty-nine (57%) attendees were from county fairs or animal agriculture groups. Educational binders were given to each attendee and 1,291 educational posters were distributed. Of the attendees who answered the questions, 100 (96%) of 104 agreed or strongly agreed that the workshop was valuable to them and 94 (93%) of 101 agreed or strongly agreed they would implement what they had learned at their fair.
CONCLUSIONS: Feedback about the workshops was overwhelmingly positive. The workshops laid the groundwork for ongoing partnerships amongst different groups involved in county fairs. These relationships were relied upon in 2014 during a multi-county fair outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 associated with a traveling petting zoo.