Comparison of a waterless hand-hygiene preparation and soap-and-water hand washing to reduce coliforms on hands in animal exhibit settings.

Outbreaks of enteric disease associated with exposure to live animals on exhibit have occurred with increasing frequency in recent years. Possibly the most important pathogen causing such outbreaks is Escherichia coli O157:H7, because of the serious illness it can cause. Hand hygiene is consistently protective against disease among persons exposed to animals implicated in these outbreaks. Livestock barns have limited hand-washing facilities, therefore a waterless hand-sanitizing gel would be a potentially preventive measure readily available to visitors and animal exhibitors. This study compared the reduction of bacterial counts on hands of animal exhibitors when soap and water was used or when an ethanol-based hand gel was used after animal handling. Participants were youth and adults involved with showing livestock. The sanitation methods were similar in reducing the total bacteria and coliform counts on the hands of the participants (Wilcoxon rank sum test P values 0.12 and 0.69 respectively).