Decontamination of High-risk Animal and Zoonotic Pathogens

Abstract

Preparedness for the decontamination of affected environments, premises, facilities, and products is one prerequisite for an immediate response to an animal disease outbreak. Various information sources provide recommendations on how to proceed in an outbreak situation to eliminate biological contaminants and to stop the spread of the disease. In order to facilitate the identification of the right decontamination strategy, we present an overview of relevant references for a collection of pathogenic agents. The choice of pathogens is based on a survey of lists containing highly pathogenic agents and/or biological agents considered to be potential vehicles for deliberate contamination of food, feed, or farm animals. European legislation and guidelines from national and international institutions were screened to find decontamination protocols for each of the agents. Identified recommendations were evaluated with regard to their area of application, which could be facilities and equipment, wastes, food, and other animal products. The requirements of a disinfectant for large-scale incidents were gathered, and important characteristics (eg, inactivating spectrum, temperature range, toxicity to environment) of the main recommended disinfectants were summarized to assist in the choice of a suitable and efficient approach in a crisis situation induced by a specific high-risk animal or zoonotic pathogen. The literature search revealed numerous relevant recommendations but also legal gaps for certain diseases, such as Q fever or brucellosis, and legal difficulties for the use of recommended disinfectants. A lack of information about effective disinfectants was identified for some agents.

Biocidal and Sporicidal Efficacy of Pathoster® 0.35% and Pathoster® 0.50% Against Bacterial Agents in Potential Bioterrorism Use

“…This article assessed the effectiveness of peracetic acid against spores of B. anthracis and B. cereus and vegetative forms of Y. pestis , B. mallei , B. pseudomallei , F. tularensis , B. abortus, and B. melitensis , confirming peracetic acid as a biocide and sporicidal agent of election against the main bacteria agents with potential bioterrorism use. 1 However, it must be emphasized that the tests conducted in this work were carried out at temperatures between 23°C and 30°C and that the sterilizing activity of peracetic acid at low concentrations and at short incubation times is less effective at higher temperatures. 29 In this regard, Kunigk and colleagues showed that at 45°C the effectiveness of peracetic acid decreases by 50% in 72 hours, while at 25°C the effectiveness decreases by 33% after 10 days.…”

“… 1 , 3 , 20 , 21 Unfortunately, aqueous solutions of peracetic acid have short-term efficacy, because degradation processes cause a strong reduction of their activity. 1 , 4 Such instability is detected in the majority of products based on peracetic acid currently on the market. The rapid loss of activity is a disadvantage because, in order to be assured of the effectiveness of the treatment, operators are forced to reconstitute the product weekly.…”

“…O ne of the strategic issues in the fight against the spread of bacterial and viral agents is the use of substances that are able to neutralize the pathogenic environment load and that do not have harmful effects on human health and the environment. 1 , 2 The most indicative parameter of the effectiveness of a sterilizing product is its ability to inactivate bacterial spores and, in particular, those of Bacilli and Clostridia. 3 , 4 In spore-forming bacterial agents, in fact, those belonging to the genus Bacillus produce spores that are among the most durable in nature.…”

Surveillance and diagnosis of zoonotic foodborne parasites

“…Early control systems are in religious texts, which gives rules for the edibility of meat (Eliasi & Dwyer, ; Farouk, ). In this century in Europe, the European Commission has implemented a regulatory program 178/2002 to establish the general principles and requirements of food laws (Frentzel, Menrath, Tomuzia, Braeunig, & Appel, ), and all of the EU member states have had their own meat inspection systems long before the European common system. For example, in Finland, trichinella inspection started in 1867, and in addition to imported meat, domestic animals are controlled currently for presence of trichinella infection (Sukura, Nareaho, Mikkonen, Niemi, & Oivanen, ).…”

An Overview of Zoonotic Disease Outbreaks and its Forensic Management Over Time

“…Many zoonotic diseases are major public and animal health problem and can impair the efficient production of food originated from affected animals and also the international commerce of related products, causing a great impact in economy . They are also responsible for decreased consumption of animal products and losses in tourism , as they may be considered a biological threat .…”