A skin infection suffered by abattoir employees did not originate from animals taken for slaughter, preliminary investigations have indicated.

Sources told Times of Malta six workers of the Marsa abattoir had to be treated at Boffa Hospital but a spokeswoman for the Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture said that the management had only been informed of two cases. The first took place at the end of January and the other last Friday.

“To date, only two butchers have been certified to be suffering from ringworm. No animals were found to be suffering from ringworm at the abattoir,” the spokeswoman said.

Ringworm is a fungal infection of the skin and has nothing to do with a worm. It causes a scaly, crusted rash that becomes itchy and occurs when a type of fungus called tinea grows and multiplies on the skin. It can be successfully treated with antifungal medication applied either in the form of a cream or taken orally.

The sources noted ringworm would not be dangerous for consumers because it was a fungus on the animal’s skin. Once the skin was removed, the fungus died.

More in Times of malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.