Respiratory disease Mortality in Agricultural workers in eight member countries of the European community.

A co-operative study by representatives of eight member countries of the EEC into the problem of respiratory disease among agricultural workers is reported. From each country mortality data (routinely collected but often unpublished) were obtained for seven disease categories in the country as a whole, and separately where possible for urban and rural areas, and agricultural workers. The results indicate that comparable data can be collected from different countries despite variations in local methods of data collection and coding. There are large between country differences in respiratory disease mortality rates, and data for agricultural workers in France and England and Wales suggest an excess respiratory disease deaths (mainly pneumonia and influenza) among agricultural workers.