Association between exposure to farm animals and pets and risk of Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Purpose There exists inconsistent evidence regarding animals including pets as risk factors for the development of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We investigated the association between farm animals and pets as possible environmental factors in MS development. Methods Population based case-control study with 136 clinically definite MS cases and 272 controls randomly chosen from the community matched on sex and age. Data was collected from both questionnaire and a lifetime calendar detailing residence, occupation and pet/animal exposure over the course of participant's lives. Results Exposure to farming, livestock, specific farm animals and remoteness of residence showed no significant association ..