§ 1.121. Cleaning of equipment contaminated with anthrax.
(a) The scalding vat water through which hog carcasses affected with anthrax have passed shall be immediately drained into the sewer.
(b) 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 boots and aprons of employes, contaminated through contact with anthrax-infected material shall, except as provided in subsection (d), be cleaned immediately and disinfected with one of the following disinfectants:
(1) A 5% solution of sodium hydroxide or commercial lye containing at least 94% of sodium hydroxide. The solution shall be freshly prepared immediately before use by dissolving 2.5 pounds of sodium hydroxide or lye in 5.5 gallons of hot water and shall be applied as near scalding hot as possible to be most effective. (Because of 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.)
(2) A solution of sodium hypochlorite containing approximately 0.5% (5,000 parts per million) of available chlorine. The solution shall be freshly prepared.
(3) One of the disinfectants approved specifically for this purpose, a list of which is available upon request from the Technical Services Division, Consumer and Marketing Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.
(c) 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.
(d) If anthrax infection is found in the hog slaughtering department an immediate preliminary disinfection shall be made from the headdropper’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 subsection (b). 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.
Cross References This section cited in 7 Pa. Code § 1.90 (relating to anthrax).
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