[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 9, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 9CFR310.9]

[Page 122-123]
 
                  TITLE 9--ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS
 
     CHAPTER III--FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                               AGRICULTURE
 
PART 310_POST-MORTEM INSPECTION--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 310.9  Anthrax; carcasses not to be eviscerated; disposition of 

affected carcasses; hides, hoofs, horns, hair, viscera and contents, 
and fat; handling of blood and scalding vat water; general cleanup 
and disinfection.

    (a) Carcasses found before evisceration to be affected with anthrax 
shall not be eviscerated but shall be retained, condemned, and 
immediately tanked or otherwise disposed of as provided in part 314 of 
this subchapter.
    (b) All carcasses and all parts, including hides, hoofs, horns, 
hair, viscera and contents, blood, and fat of any livestock found to be 
affected with anthrax shall be condemned and immediately disposed of as 
provided in part 314 of this subchapter, except that the blood may be 
handled through the usual blood cooking and drying equipment.
    (c) Any part of any carcass that is contaminated with anthrax-
infected material through contact with soiled instruments or otherwise 
shall be immediately condemned and disposed of as provided in part 314 
of this subchapter.
    (d) The scalding vat water through which hog carcasses affected with 
anthrax have passed shall be immediately drained into the sewer and all 
parts of the scalding vat shall be cleaned and disinfected as provided 
in paragraph (e) of this section.
    (e)(1) That portion of the slaughtering department, including the 
bleeding area, scalding vat, gambrelling bench, floors, walls, posts, 
platforms, saws, cleavers, knives, and hooks, as well as employees' 
boots and aprons, contaminated through contact with anthrax-infected 
material, shall, except as provided in paragraph (e)(2) of this section 
be cleaned immediately and disinfected with one of the following

[[Page 123]]

disinfectants or other disinfectant \1\ approved specifically for this 
purpose by the Administrator:
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    \1\ A list of disinfectants approved for this purpose is available 
upon request to the Scientific Services, Meat and Poultry Inspection, 
Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, DC 20250.
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    (i) A 5 percent solution of sodium hydroxide or commercial lye 
containing at least 94 percent of sodium hydroxide. The solution shall 
be freshly prepared immediately before use by dissolving 2\1/2\ pounds 
of sodium hydroxide or lye in 5\1/2\ gallons of hot water and shall be 
applied as near scalding hot as possible to be most effective. (Owing to 
the extremely caustic nature of sodium hydroxide solution, precautionary 
measures such as the wearing of rubber gloves and boots to protect the 
hands and feet, and goggles to protect the eyes, should be taken by 
those engaged in the disinfection process. It is also advisable to have 
an acid solution, such as vinegar, in readiness in case any of the 
sodium hydroxide solution should come in contact with any part of the 
body.)
    (ii) A solution of sodium hypochlorite containing approximately one-
half of 1 percent (5,000 parts per million) of available chlorine. The 
solution shall be freshly prepared.
    (iii) When a disinfectant solution has been applied to equipment 
which will afterwards contact product, the equipment shall be rinsed 
with clean water before such contact.
    (2) In case anthrax infection is found in the hog slaughtering 
department, an immediate preliminary disinfection shall be made from the 
head-dropper's station to the point where the disease is detected and 
the affected carcasses shall be cut down from the rail and removed from 
the room. Upon completion of the slaughtering of the lot of hogs of 
which the anthrax-infected animals were a part, slaughtering operations 
shall cease, and a thorough cleanup and disinfection shall be made, as 
provided in paragraph (e)(1) of this section. If the slaughter of the 
lot has not been completed by the close of the day on which anthrax was 
detected, the cleanup and disinfection shall not be deferred beyond the 
close of that day.
    (3) The first and indispensable precautionary step for persons who 
have handled anthrax material is thorough cleansing of the hands and 
arms with liquid soap and running hot water. It is important that this 
step be taken immediately after exposure, before vegetative anthrax 
organisms have had time to form spores. In the cleansing, a brush or 
other appropriate appliance shall be used to insure the removal of all 
contaminating material from under and about the fingernails. This 
process of cleansing is most effective when performed in repeated cycles 
of lathering and rinsing rather than in spending the same amount of time 
in scrubbing with a single lathering. After the hands have been cleansed 
thoroughly and rinsed free of soap, they may, if desired, be immersed 
for about 1 minute in a 1:1,000 solution of bichloride of mercury, 
followed by thorough rinsing in clean running water. Supplies of 
bichloride of mercury for the purpose must be held in the custody of the 
veterinary medical officer. (As a precautionary measure, all persons 
exposed to anthrax infection should report promptly any suspicious 
condition (sore or carbuncle) or symptom to a physician, in order that 
anti-anthrax serum or other treatment may be administered as indicated.)

[35 FR 15567, Oct. 3, 1970; 36 FR 11903, June 23, 1971]