Terrestrial Animal Health Code
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Terrestrial Animal Health Code |
Quarantine measures applicable to non-human primates
General principles
The present chapter defines the standards to be followed in the case of a non-human primate being imported directly from a country within the natural range of the animal’s species concerned, and where only limited health guarantees can be given, or in cases where Article 6.11.2., last paragraph, applies.
Quarantine programmes are designed to both facilitate the detection of communicable diseases and to make accurate assessments of the overall health status of individuals and/or groups entering a new population. Prudence dictates that for public health and safety the infectious disease status of all incoming animals is considered at best uncertain. Non-human primates can harbour infectious organisms that cause only mild disease for their species but can be severely pathogenic to other species of non-human primate, either in captive collections or in wild populations, or to humans.
Quarantines are defined by their duration and by the activities and procedures practised to assess health status.
The minimal duration of the quarantine period, as defined by Articles 6.11.4., 6.11.5. and 6.11.6., may be extended until any adverse events during the quarantine period are fully investigated and resolved, and no evidence of transmission of infectious agents within the quarantined group exists.
Quarantine activities and procedures should be directed towards defining as much as possible the health status of quarantined animals, while protecting persons and other animals from inadvertent exposure to communicable agents and providing for the health and well-being of quarantined animals. Therefore, quarantine practices should:
encompass measures which effectively isolate animals or groups of animals thereby preventing the spread of communicable diseases;
protect the health of personnel working in the quarantine;
encompass measures to promote the health and welfare of quarantined animals including social and behavioural needs of non-human primates.
At a minimum, quarantine programmes should have the following key components:
Management policies
Management should restrict access to the quarantine facility to authorised and essential personnel, who do not pose a communicable disease risk to non-human primates.
Management should instruct personnel about the potential risks of working in the quarantine facility, and the need to conduct all activities in a safe manner. There should be periodic retraining of personnel.
Management may prohibit persons who may be at increased risk of acquiring infections or for whom an infection might be unusually hazardous from the quarantine facility. Management may require other personnel health promotion activities, such as those mentioned in point 5 of Article 6.11.7.
Quarantine facility infrastructure design and equipment
The construction or location, and the operation of the quarantine facility should provide for strict segregation and isolation of quarantined animals from other animals and from personnel not essential to the operation of the quarantine.
Methods to attain this isolation include:
The use of security measures such as physical barriers and procedural access control systems.
As part of the security system, a hazard warning sign should be posted at the entrance to the quarantine stating that exposure to infectious diseases may occur in the quarantine. The names and telephone numbers of contact persons responsible for the quarantine area should be provided, and all special requirements for entering the quarantine area should be listed.
The implementation of an effective rodent, feral animal, and insect control programme, which does not pose a health risk to the quarantined animals.
The complete physical separation of groups of quarantined animals from other groups of quarantined animals to prevent exposure to and the introduction of infectious agents from one group to another during the quarantine period. As a rule, only animals arriving in one shipment from the same exporter should be grouped together. Animals may not be exchanged between groups or groups mixed during the quarantine period, unless the newly formed group restarts the entire quarantine process.
The quarantine facility should be designed to allow for the secure holding of quarantined animals and to allow for the safe, easy and efficient cleaning and decontamination of the animal holding area and the access area during and after use.
A quarantine facility should consist of a minimum of two discrete areas physically separated from the outside and from each other, including an access area where clothes, footwear and protective articles are changed, and where locker, hand-washing and, if possible, showering facilities are provided.
Procedures should be in place to prevent the cross-contamination of clothes and footwear worn outside the quarantine facility from potentially contaminated protective clothing worn inside the animal holding area.
Animal holding room wall, floor, and ceiling surfaces should be water resistant to facilitate cleaning and disinfecting. Any holes or penetrations in these surfaces should be sealed or be capable of being sealed to facilitate fumigation or space decontamination. Doors to animal rooms should open inward, and should always be kept closed when animals are present. Any windows should be closed and sealed, unless the facility is sufficiently separated (distance, fences, other means of separation) from non-quarantined area.
In facilities that are operated with the windows closed and sealed, a ventilation system should be operated and monitored in such a manner to assure the provision of an optimal isolation of these animals, while also providing for their health and comfort. The direction of the airflow in the quarantine facility should be inward from the outside of the quarantine facility, to quarantine access areas, to animal holding rooms. Air exhausted or re-circulated within the facility must be filtered. In addition, exhaust air should be dispersed away from the building and other occupied areas. Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems should be designed so that their operation can be continued, even at reduced capacity in the event of electrical or other support system failure.
If floor drains are present, their drain traps should always be filled with water or a suitable disinfectant.
A hand washing sink should be available in the animal holding room for personnel usage.
Adequate equipment and space should be available both in the animal holding area and in the quarantine facility in general for the adequate decontamination and the proper disposal or processing and storing of all supplies and equipment used in the quarantine.
Personnel protection practices
Eating, drinking, smoking and storing of food for human use should not be permitted in the quarantine facility.
All staff entering the quarantine should wear (preferably disposable) protective clothing and devices.
Protective clothing, gloves, and mucus membrane protection should not be used in more than one quarantine animal holding room. This may require the changing of protective clothing by staff as they go between rooms in the performance of their duties.
Foot or shoe baths should be provided and used at the exits of the animal holding area and of each animal holding room. They should be changed often enough to remain fresh and free of organic matter.
Showering after contact with non-human primates, their body waste or secretions or at a minimum before leaving the quarantine facility is highly recommended.
Intermittent and frequent hand washing while working in the quarantine facility is highly recommended. This is especially important as protective gloves may become inadvertently torn or ruptured.
Baseline serum samples from quarantine personnel should be collected and stored. Additional serum samples may be collected periodically, as an aid to epidemiological investigations.
Management should encourage quarantine staff developing signs of illness to seek medical attention.
Husbandry and animal care practices
If a quarantine facility maintains more than one animal holding room, husbandry practices should be designed so as to minimise the risk of transmission of zoonotic diseases between rooms. In particular, there should be separate cleaning tools and other animal care equipment for each room. All cages and other non-disposable equipment should be decontaminated when removed from the room.
All husbandry and animal care procedures should be carefully performed to minimise the creation of aerosols and limit the spread of potentially infectious materials, while also providing for the appropriate care and well-being of the animals concerned.
Waste, uneaten food, and other potentially contaminated materials leaving the quarantine area must be suitably contained, while being transported to a site of physical or chemical decontamination, or incineration.
Work surfaces should always be decontaminated after use or whenever soiled. Equipment should not be stored on the floor.
Care should be taken to avoid scratches, bites or other injuries from non-human primates through anaesthesia, tranquillisation or physical restraint of the animals during handling. Physical restraint should only be performed by personnel knowledgeable and experienced in handling non-human primates, and it should never be done by persons working alone.
Caution must be used to prevent injury to personnel or the spread of infectious materials between animals through the use of potentially contaminated needles, scalpels, or other sharp instruments, particularly during the disposal of these items. Only single use disposable syringes and needles, scalpel blades, and other sharp items should be used. They should never be recapped, bent, broken or otherwise manipulated by hand, and they should be discarded into puncture-resistant containers kept as close to the work site as practical. Containers should be decontaminated before disposal.
If multiple-dose vials of materials or medications are used, care must be taken to avoid contamination of such vials and their contents between uses.
Dead animals should be removed from their animal holding room and taken to a dedicated necropsy room in a sealed, impervious, leakproof container or bag.
Responsible quarantine officials should immediately notify the Veterinary Authority of any severe and/or unusual illnesses and deaths occurring in quarantined non-human primates.
After animals are removed from quarantine, a thorough decontamination of the animal holding room is necessary whether there is a history of communicable disease presence in the room or not.
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2016 ©OIE - Terrestrial Animal Health Code |
