Guidance updated for swine inspection

Guidelines define how to handle Brucellosis

The Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has provided instructions to inspection program personnel at establishments where feral swine and/or reactor pigs suspected of having Brucellosis are inspected.

In the case of Brucellosis, APHIS will notify the district office at least five days in advance of the date of shipment to a slaughter facility. When this notice is received, inspection program personnel should be informed that animals that are Brucellosis positive or have been exposed to Brucellosis are being brought to the plant. They should also be provided protective equipment, including aprons, face shields, nitrile rubber gloves over cut-resistant gloves on both hands and slip-resistant footwear .

While processing the infected animals, inspection personnel should avoid working in front of or downwind from a fan that can spread aerosols. Aerosols can be created by cleaning or rinsing the kill floor with water buckets or hoses, as well as cutting carcasses with power saws or other power tools.

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Casey Laughman is the former Editor in Chief of Food Engineering magazine. He has almost two decades’ experience as a writer and editor for mainstream and trade publications. He spent several years as a writer and editor for two news services before becoming the editor of a legal publication and managing editor of a trade magazine that covered the commercial facilities market.