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Meat Hygiene

Fig. 12.1 Anthrax. Malignant pustule on a humart hand. (By courtcsy of Or J. S. Matthews, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast)

In the UK the introduction in 1967 of vol-untary schemes for the testing and rcmoval of reactors from individual herds followed by area eradication in 1975 and compulsory eradication in 1979 has ensured a marked decline in the incidence of bovine brucellosis with a parallel reduction in the human infec-tion.

Nevertheless pockets of animal infcction remain, as they do in tuberculosis, with the occurrence of a few human cases. One such case occurred in Scotland in 1985 when a slaughterman who acquired infection was awarded £42,200 damages against his employers who had failed to provide him with adequate protective clothing.

Special care is needed when slaughtering and dressing Brucelła reactor animals. These animals should be spread over several abat-toirs, thus decreasing the risk of infection of personnel. It is not enough to arrange for the removal of such animals from farms without paying close attention to their slaughter and the needs of opcratives employed in abattoirs.

Known Brucelln reactor stock musi be han-dled with care from reception onwnrds, with strict attention to hygiene at all stages. The uteri and udders should not be handled with barć hands, but with hooks or other suitable instruments. They musi not be incised but consigned immediatcly as rejectcd offal and disposed of with care for inediblc purposcs. Masks and rubber gloves have becn recom-mended for Staff, but currently present prac-tical problems. Hands and arms musi be washed frequently, preferably using a bac-tericidał soap.

Contagious pustular dermatitis (Plalc I, Fig. 1)

Also called contagious ecthyma or 'orf', the lesions of contagious pustular dermatitis occur fairly frequcntly in abaUpjr workers mainly on the hands, wrists, forcarms and sometimes the face. The early vesicle stage is seldom seen, however, and the presentation is a

chronię, raised circular weal very_rędjn

cojóur, ołten iound on the ulnar border_of.the hands. The actuai handling or slaughtering of livestock is not necessarily the cause; the condition has been reported in engineering Staff concerncd with equipment maintenancc. Although orf in shcep is most prevalent in spring and^early su mm er, cases have been recorded in abattoir workers in mid-winter, suggesling a virus carrier stale in sl\eep.

Contagious pustular dermatitis in sheep and goats is a disease worldwide in dis* tribution caused by DNA virus of the Para_r doxvtruś genus of poxviruses. Lesions of the lips of lambs (mostly up‘ to one year old) and udders of ewes are usually seen, but a morę serious form with high mortality may involve the tongue, palate, lungs and digestive tract.

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