Occupational Health Information for the Research Animal Facility

Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine

Ver 1.2

Rev 10 Aug 2017

Introduction

Tufts University is committed to maintaining a safe environment for students, faculty, staff, visitors, and the general public.Further, it is dedicated to minimizing the environmental impact of its operations. It is the practiceof the University to meet or exceed all applicable laws, regulations, and relevant published standards and practices for health, safety and environmental protection.

This document describes personal health risks you may encounter when working with research animals or in the facilities where they are housed.The document accompanies a confidential health survey which you must complete before beginning to work with animals, and annually thereafter. We update the document regularly and send it to you annually to be sure you have the most current information available.

After you have read this document, complete the attached questionnaire and return it to the Occupational Health Nurse. Please retain this informational document for your records – do not return it to the nurse.

Do you have questions about this handout or the questionnaire?

If you have any questions about your specific job assignment, please ask your manager.
If you have questions about research animal health, please ask the Attending Veterinarian for the Laboratory Animal Medicine Service (LAMS).
If you have any questions about how your personal health affects your ability to work with animals, please contact the Occupational Health Nurse for a confidential discussion.

Are you sick or injured?

On campus: Tufts Police (508) 839-5303 or X66911
Off campus: Seek emergency medical care at the nearest health facility
Fill out the Accident/Injury report form that is found on the EHS website:

Were you exposed to toxic or infectious materials?

Call the Exposure Response Call Center (ERCC) 866 360 8100. This call center is staffed 24/7 by trained emergency responders able to guide you and your health provider about specific health risks associated with your work.
Fill out the Accident/Injury report form that is found on the EHS website:

Important!

Keep in mind that the early stages of infection with an unknown exposure to an infectious agent may cause symptoms similar to influenza (fever, muscle aches, lethargy). In most cases, the symptoms will in fact be caused by a common cold or influenza virus. However if you experience these or other unfamiliar symptoms and work with or near infectious agents or with animals that could harbor zoonoses, inform the Senior Biological Safety Officer (Dr. John Tonkiss,(508) 887 4467) and your supervisor. Call the ERCC (866 360 8100) to obtain advice from the on-call physician.
If it is determined that you have a laboratory-acquired infection or work-related illness, you will need to fill out the Accident/Injury report form that is found on the EHS website:

General Safety Precautions

Basic safety precautions apply to all work environments regardless of the types of hazardous materials used. These include:

Wear personal protective equipment (PPE) appropriate to your task.
Read and understand all written documentation before you start a procedure or experiment. If you don’t understand something, ask! If necessary do a dry run without hazardous material.
Wash your hands immediately after contact with chemicals, drugs, and animals or their waste products.
Keep hands away from your mouth, nose and eyes until you washed them.
Do not eat, drink or store food in research or animal care areas. Do not handle contact lenses or cosmetics in the laboratory.
Use sharps safely.Substitute manually operated pipettes for needles and syringes, and cannulae for needles when possible.
Use safety self-capping needles and scalpels when possible.
Do not recap needles. Immediately dispose of them in appropriate sharp containers kept in immediate reach of your work area. If you must recap a needle, use an approved hands-free procedure or device (for example, Contact the biosafety office for assistance to ensure that re-capping is indeed necessary and is done in an appropriate manner.

Inherent Hazards

There are some potential hazards inherent in any work environment. These include ergonomics, slips and falls, electrical safety hazards, etc. In addition, your work may require the use of heavy equipment which requires special training and/or PPE. Do not perform dangerous tasks or use heavy equipment until you have been trained. TCSVM has developed a wide range of environmental health and safety guidelines to address these potential hazards. You may obtain additional information from , or by contacting the campus EHS manager, Chris Rock (508) 887 4556.

Protocol Related Hazards

Many experiments or facility tasks use toxic or infectious materials or require the use of equipment which can be hazardous if improperly used. Successful reduction of protocol related hazards requires recognition and description of the hazards prior to the start of the experiments. This task is primarily the responsibility of the Principal Investigator or Facility Manager with the support and authorization of the relevant oversight group. These groups identify hazards associated with proposed research and work with the Principal Investigator to reduce hazards by ensuring the use of proper facilities and equipment and providing training to the staff involved in the study.

For biological hazards, begin by completing the Biological Materials Registration Form, which can be foundon the IBC website:
For chemical hazards, begin by completing the High Hazard Chemical Registration Form, which can be found on the EHS website:
For radiation hazards, begin by obtaining approval as instructed within the Radiation Safety Manual, which can be found on the EHS website:

Important!

If your work involves potential exposure to any biological agents, chemicals, radioactive materials or ionizing radiation, you must attend a training program prior to your work with any such hazards.
Investigators responsible for the use of biological, chemical or radioactive materials in animals must post required safety practices on the room door. Signage must be approved by the appropriate committee or safety office.
Always follow all posted safety practices and use all required PPE.
Contact your manager and do not enter the room if you have not been properly trained in the use of PPE or if PPE is not available.

Animal Related Hazards

Bites and Scratches

Do not work with animals until you have been properly trained to handle, restrain and recognize aggression and pain in the species you work with. You should also receive training in the emergency management of any injuries you may receive. All animals may bite or scratch if threatened or improperly restrained. Aggressive or painful animals may attack without warning. Bites and scratches may inflict serious physical injury or transmit infectious disease. Sharp edges on cages and other equipment exposed to animal saliva may also cause physical injury and transmit disease. Follow these guidelines to reduce the frequency and severity of animal bites and scratches.

Be familiar with normal behavior and signs of stress or aggression in the species you work with. Check for escaped animals through the viewing panel before entering a large animal holding room.
Always wear appropriate personal protective equipment, especially hand and face/eye protection.
If you receive a bite or scratch that breaks the skin, immediately scrub the wound with soap and water for at least 15 minutes. Call for help if necessary to secure the animal in the cage. Report the injury to the Occupational Health Nurse and your manager, and fill out the Accident/Injury report form that is found on the EHS website:
Use mechanical restrainers when performing procedures on non-anesthetized animals.
If moving large contaminated items wear heavy gloves and seek assistance.
If you are injured or exposed to a hazard, notify your supervisor and seek medical attention immediately.As soon as you can, also fill out the Accident/Injury report form that is found on the EHS website:

Allergy

One of the most common health concerns in the laboratory animal setting is animal allergy. The risk of developing an allergy depends on species, facility and laboratory design, engineering controls and your individual health history. If you have asthma or other allergies, you may be at increased risk to develop laboratory animal allergy. Allergic people are usually sensitive to proteins in the animal’s urine, saliva or fur. Exposure may occur by handling animals or their soiled cages or bedding or breathing air with contaminated dust.

Symptoms of animal allergy include allergic rhinitis/conjunctivitis (red, watery eyes or nose) or contact urticarial/atopic dermatitis (red, swollen skin lesions). Very severe allergy can cause asthma or anaphylaxis (difficulty breathing, collapse or death).

All of the common small laboratory animals, including rats, mice, guinea pigs and rabbits can cause laboratory animal allergy. The most serious allergens are present in the urine and soiled bedding. Allergens may also be present in the fur and saliva. The allergens cause both skin and respiratory conditions.If you have atopic allergies, you may develop a skin reaction even if the allergen does not directly contact your skin.

Domestic animals such as pet cats and dogs may be responsible for pre-existing allergies in individuals before they begin performing work in a research environment. You may have a mild allergy to your own dog or cat that becomes very serious when you work with a largenumber of animals in the laboratory. Cats in particular have been implicated in the development of asthma in sensitive individuals. Cats secrete the allergen in saliva and the sebaceous glands of the skin which they spread over the entire coat when they groom. The amount of allergen may vary by breed. Male cats may be more allergenic than females. Allergies to dogs are less common, but are typically associated with proteins in the hair, skin and saliva, and perhaps dog albumin.

Large farm animals used in research may also cause allergies. Common examples include the dander and urine of cattle and the skin, albumin and dander of horses. Although not an allergy, many people demonstrate hypersensitivity to pig dander and sheep lanolin. You may also be allergic or sensitive to hays and grasses used as animal feeds.

If you are allergic to animals, you may need to wear additional PPE to work safely with animals.
If you have respiratory allergy or atopic dermatitis, you may need to wear an N95 respiratormask when working the animals to which you are allergic. To use an N95 mask, you must receive medical clearance, be fit-tested to one or more specific masks and receive training.
If your physician has prescribed an emergency inhaler or Epi-Pen ®, make sure you have one available near your work area.
If you have an allergic reaction when working with animals, remove yourself from the area immediately and seek medical attention.

Zoonoses

Zoonotic diseases are transmitted from animals to humans. Many zoonoses cause little or no disease in the primary host, but can cause serious or fatal disease in humans. Keep in mind that many animals are experimentally inoculated with infectious agents for the purpose of research. These animals may also be a source of infection for you.

Whenever possible, Tufts will accept only research animals which test negative for known zoonotic agents. We will also immunize animals when a safe and effective vaccine is available. Testing and vaccination may not be possible when working with wild-caught or privately owned clinic animals. Since testing will not always excluded infect animals, you must use required PPE and hygiene practices when working with animals which could harbor a zoonosis. If you work with experimentally infected animals or animals with a high risk of infection, we will advise you to be vaccinated if an effective vaccine is available.

Sick and clinically normal animals may harbor zoonotic agents.Remember that infected animals are likely to shed organisms to the environment, contaminating walls, floors, examination tables, scales, cages, bedding, equipment, supplies, feed, soil, and water.

Human susceptibility to infection varies greatly. Humans may be exposed to zoonotic agents by direct exposure to animals or their blood, urine or feces, by aerosol or by an intermediate insect vector. Some agents may be transmitted by multiple routes.Disease may be mild or undetectable, especially in people with prior exposure or immunization. Others may become transient or persistent carriers and be a source of infection to others. Some exposed individuals may develop severe, life threatening illness. Various personal medical factors may affect susceptibility including vaccination status, age, underlying diseases, immunosuppression, pregnancy, and deficiencies or disruptions in the body's primary defense mechanisms.

Q Fever

Q fever caused by Coxiella burnetti infection is a common infection of sheep, goats and cattle and may occasionally occur in other species. Tufts accepts only animals which test negative for Q fever, but negative tests do not guarantee that an animal is free of infection. Since Tufts uses many ruminants in teaching and research, it is important that you become familiar with the health risks associated with possible Q fever infection.

Farm animals usually contract the infection from others in the herd, or following a tick bite. Infected animals do not usually become visibly ill, although if the infected animal is pregnant, abortion sometimes results. Infected animals may shed large amounts of the infectious organism in the placenta, amniotic fluid and fetus. The organism is very hardy in the environment. Human infection occurs through direct contact or by inhalation of contaminated dusts.

While most human cases are mild and flu-like, some people develop serious disease. People with impaired immune systems and heart disease and women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant are especially at risk. Clinical signs begin from two weeks to one month after exposure. Signs include fever, sweating, muscular aches and pains, and headache. In rare cases the organism can invade the heart and cause serious injury, particularly if the individual already has valvular heart disease or artificial heart valves. Infection during pregnancy may lead to stillbirth or low birth weight in the infant.

Many rural workers and those who work with ruminants have already had the disease, developed antibodies, and are immune to further infection. Disease is most common in urban workers working with ruminants for the first time.

Always practice good hygiene when working with ruminants. Wear coveralls, scrubs and/or a lab coat in the animal housing areas, and wear gloves when working with pregnant animals or their body fluids. Wash your hands after working with the animals.
Q fever is easily treated with appropriate antibiotics. If you develop a severe flu-like illness and you work with sheep, goat or cattle, tell your physician so that appropriate testing and treatment is given as quickly as possible.

Immune Compromised Status

If you have a medical condition which affects your immune system, you may be at a greater risk of acquiring infectious diseases from infected animals. Medical conditions associated with a weakened immune system include cancer, immune-suppression treatment given for many disease or infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Pregnant women also have a somewhat reduced immune response compared to nonpregnant women, and the fetus may be especially susceptible to infections acquired by the mother.

If you have a medical condition which affects your immune system or if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant contact the occupational health nurse before beginning work.