[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 9, Volume 2]

[Revised as of January 1, 2007]

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:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------



    \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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------



    (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]