BACTERIA THAT ARE RESISTANT TO ANTIBIOTICS AND/OR THEIR GENES CAN ENTER THE HUMAN POPULATION FROM DAIRY CATTLE THROUGH FARM WORKERS. WE ARE STUDYING HUMAN BEHAVIORS IN THE WORKPLACE WITH THE IDEA THAT SOME NORMAL FARM PRACTICES MAY ALTER THE RISK OF RESISTANT BACTERIA PASSING BETWEEN CATTLE AND HUMANS. IF WE CAN IDENTIFY THESE PRACTICES, WE MAY BE ABLE TO REDUCE THIS RISK BY CHANGING FARM WORKER BEHAVIOR. WE ARE PERFORMING OUR STUDIES ON DAIRY HERDS THAT USE VARYING AMOUNTS OF ANTIBIOTICS SO THAT WE CAN DETERMINE THE ROLE THAT ANTIBIOTIC USAGE PLAYS RELATIVE TO TRANSMISSION OF RESISTANT ORGANISMS AMONG CATTLE AND FARM WORKERS. OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO REDUCE PUBLIC HEALTH RISKS BY DEVELOPING AND TRAINING FARM WORKERS IN STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING TRANSMISSION. WE ARE GOING TO ACCOMPLISH THESE OBJECTIVES BY ENROLLING FARMS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF USE OF ANTIBIOTICS AND STUDYING HOW WORKERS ON THESE FARMS INTERACT WITH CATTLE AND IDENTIFYING PRACTICES THAT MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF EXPOSURE TO POTENTIALLY RESISTANT BACTERIA. WE WILL BE COLLECTING SPECIMENS FROM FARM WORKER AND CATTLE, USING SOCIAL SCIENCE TECHNIQUES TO STUDY WORKER BEHAVIOR, USING ADVANCED LABORATORY METHODS TO ASSESS PRESENCE OF RESISTANCE GENES AND IDENTIFYING CRITICAL CONTROL POINTS IN WORKER BEHAVIORS INFLUENCING ACQUISITION OF PATHOGENS AND ARG. BASED ON THESE RESULTS, WE WILL DEVELOP AN EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTION, WITH THE GOAL OF REDUCING HUMAN EXPOSURES FROM DAIRY CATTLE. WE WILL EVALUATE THE INTERVENTION AND THEN USE EXTENSION NETWORKS AND MULTIMEDIA INTERACTIVE MATERIALS TO TRANSLATE THIS KNOWLEDGE TO THE BROADER AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY. IN SO DOING, WE HOPE TO REDUCE PATHOGEN AND AMG CARRIAGE IN DAIRY FARM WORKERS AND THE HUMAN POPULATION AT LARGE THROUGH EVIDENCE-BASED, INDUSTRY-WIDE WORKPLACE BEHAVIORAL AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.