VETERINARY SAFETY AND HEALTH

Biological Safety

Veterinary medicine and animal care workers are at risk of exposure to zoonoses, infectious diseases that spread from animals to humans. Possible routes of transmission include aerosol, droplet spray, ingestion (oral), direct contact, indirect contact (e.g., fomite), or vector-borne. Sources of exposure include animals, body fluids, contaminated tools, surfaces, or other objects in the environment.

Approximately 60% of the more than 1400 human pathogens are zoonotic. About 75% of emerging pathogens are zoonotic. Zoonoses reported in veterinary personnel include salmonellosis, cryptosporidiosis, plague, sporotrichosis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), psittacosis, dermatophytosis, leptospirosis, and Q fever. Other zoonoses of veterinary concern include rabies and toxoplasmosis.

Overview of biological safety

NASPHV Veterinary Standard Precautions Compendium

NASPHV Model Infection Control Plan for Veterinary Practices

CDC Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings

CDC Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories

CDC Healthy Pets Healthy People

NIOSH Eye Protection for Infection Control

AVMA, JAVMA article: Infection control practices and zoonotic disease risks among veterinarians in the United States

AVMA Veterinary Facility Occupational Risks for Pregnant Workers

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Infection Control

Canadian Council on Antibiotic Resistance, Infection Prevention and Control Best Practices for Small Animal Veterinary Clinics

Rabinowitz P, Conti L [2010]. Human-animal medicine: clinical approaches to zoonoses, toxicants and other shared health risks. Maryland Heights, MO: Saunders.

Allergens

NIOSH Alert: Preventing Asthma in Animal Handlers

Mass. Dept. of Public Health Occupational Lung Disease Bulletin: Work-Related Asthma among Laboratory Animal Workers

NIOSH Asthma and Allergies

Anthrax

NIOSH Anthrax

Avian influenza

NIOSH Avian Influenza

NIOSH Alert: Protecting Poultry Workers from Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Avian Influenza

B Virus

CDC B Virus

NIOSH Hazard ID 5 – Cerpopithecine herpesvirus 1 (B Virus) Infection Resulting from Ocular Exposure

Biosecurity

USDA APHIS Biosecurity

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Infection Control

National Biosecurity Resource Center for Animal Health Emergencies

USDA/U Nebraska/Kansas State/Iowa State Farm and Ranch Biosecurity

National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense Resource Library

Australia National Zoo Biosecurity Manual March 2011

Brucellosis

CDC Brucellosis

CDC Brucellosis Information for Veterinarians

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Brucellosis

Laboratory Safety

CDC Guidelines for Safe Work Practices in Human and Animal Medical Diagnostic Laboratories

CDC/NIH Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 5th edition

OSHA Laboratory Safety – Working with Small Animals

Leptospirosis

2010 ACVIM Small Animal Consensus Statement on Leptospirosis: Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Treatment, and Prevention

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Leptospirosis

Medical Water

CDC Medical Water

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

CDC MRSA

NIOSH MRSA

OSHA MRSA Hospital eTool

CDC MRSA Infections

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Methicillin-Resistant: Staphylococcus aureus

One Health

One Health Initiative

Florida Dept of Health One Health Newsletter

AVMA One Health

AVMA Aardvarks2Zebras: Connections between humans, animals and the environment

Yale University School of Medicine Canary Database

Parasites

 

Companion Animal Parasite Council

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

NIOSH Personal Protective Equipment for Health Care Workers Who Work with Hazardous Drugs

NIOSH Respirator Selection Logic 2004

National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) Veterinary Standard Precautions Compendium

Psittacosis and Chlamydiosis

NASPHV Psittacosis and Chlamydiosis

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Psittacosis

Rabies

CDC Rabies Information

CDC Rabies Information for Veterinarians

NASPHV Animal Rabies Compendium

Human Rabies Prevention – United States, 2008: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

AVMA Collections: Rabies

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Rabies

Standard Precautions

National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) Veterinary Standard Precautions Compendium

Swine Influenza

CDC Swine Influenza

 

CDC Information for Pork Producers and People Who Work With or Raise Pigs

CDC Guidance Documents Related to Preventing the Spread of Influenza A Viruses

Tuberculosis

USDA Tuberculosis Information

USDA APHIS Guidelines for the Control of Tuberculosis in Elephants 2008

CDC Tuberculosis Information

NIOSH Tuberculosis Information

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Bovine Tuberculosis

CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Journal Article: Zoonotic Tuberculosis due to <em>Mycobacterium bovis</em> in Developing Countries

CDC EID Journal Article: Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection as a Zoonotic Disease: Transmission Between Humans and Elephants

CDC EID Journal Article: Elephant-to-Human Transmission of Tuberculosis, 2009

Vector-Borne Diseases

NIOSH Tick-borne Diseases

NIOSH Lyme Disease

NIOSH West Nile Virus

CDC Malaria

Waste Disposal

AVMA Waste Disposal by Veterinary Practices: What Goes Where?

National Center for Manufacturing Sciences Veterinary Compliance Assistance

Zoonoses

AVMA Collections: Zoonosis Updates

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Infection Control

Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University: Zoonoses Information

University of Minnesota Center for Animal Health and Food Safety Fact Sheets

U.S. Marine Mammal Commission Working with Marine Mammals and Your Health

National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense Resource Library

Ontario Veterinary College Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses: Worms and Germs Blog Resources