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Summary of the UNMC Occupational Health & Safety Program
for Personnel with Animal Contact
A Discussion for Animal Users
Comparative Medicine
University of Nebraska Medical Center
986385 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-6385
402 559-4034
Employee Health Clinic
The Nebraska Medical Center - Clarkson Hospital
987526 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-7526
402 552-3175
Occupational Health & Safety Program
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Occupational Health & Safety Program (OHSP) is a personnel protection program directed at risk assessment, risk management, risk education, and preventive medicine (health maintenance). This program is designed for personnel who have direct contact with animals, their viable tissues, body fluids, wastes or living quarters.
Eligibility
Enrollment in this program is required for all personnel for which UNMC has responsibility and who have animal, animal tissue contact or contact with animal caging or living quarters. This includes but is not limited to principal investigators, research animal attendants, professional research assistants, research technicians, graduate students, post doctoral students, part-time student employees, faculty, residents, visiting professors, service personnel, security and facilities personnel. A post-job offer, pre-employment health evaluation is a condition of employment for individuals with known research or teaching animal involvement. This may directly affect the species with which the individual is cleared to work with.
Obtaining Occupational Health Service
The Nebraska Medical Center (NMC) Employee Health Service has been established as the principal program facility wherein users can obtain the required approval. However, any physician can provide the required certification signature following approval by NMC Employee Health eprsonnel.
Financial Responsibility
The UNMC (Central Administration) provides resources to assure central program function. Each Department, grant or research cost center provides fund support for costs for personnel enrolled in the program.
Animal Use Privileges
Animal use privileges are dependent upon the level of program certification. Participants are organized into categories which reflect the specific surveillance needs of the employees based on real or potential occupational exposure to specific species of animals.
Our use categories are:
Category Type of Contact
Category 1 Small animals including rodents, rabbits, pigs, cats and dogs*
Category 2 Large animals including sheep and goats
Category 3 Non-human primates
* Includes support staff, facilities management maintenance staff, security staff, visiting personnel (no direct animal contact expected in the routine performance of duty; risk through environmental exposure)
Basic Occupational Health Care (BOHC)
All participants:
Occupational health questionnaire: Completed by the patient and reviewed by a physician or occupational health nurse practitioner to assess risk.
Physical examination or other diagnostic testing: Based on review of Confidential Health History Questionnaire. Only conducted if medical personnel indicates necessity. The components of the physical examination will be based on the functional requirements of the position, the type of animal contact, and the individual's prior medical history.
Education: Topics presented as employee information. Includes, but not limited to:
Program function and coverage descriptions,
Important zoonoses of laboratory animals including animal allergy,
Points of contact for additional information,
A review of institutional policy on Occupational Health,
Provision of informational handouts on topical matters.
Serum Storage: The physician will assess if program participants should submit a serum sample for storage based on risk assessment.
Immunizations: All participants will have the following vaccinations documented:
Tetanus Prophylaxis
Hepatitis B (as required)
Rabies/ Measles (as required)
Assessment of Physical Conditioning:
Lifting (as required)
Auditory (as required)
Protection from exposure to radiation, chemical and biohazards: Proposals to use radioactive, chemical or biological hazards in animals are addressed individually by appropriate safety committees and are reviewed by the IACUC.
Category 1 Participants
BOHC plus attention to the specific concern of allergies:
Employees at risk for developing work related allergies include those with a history of pre-existing allergies, asthma, seasonal rhinitis or eczema.
Participants with suspected allergies will be encouraged to seek evaluation by health treatment personnel. Allergy testing may be requested as a part of the risk assessment.
Category 2 Participants (Sheep/Goat Contct)
BOHC plus attention to the following specific concerns:
Personnel who will have contact with Sheep and Goats will be assessed for their risk relative to Q- fever.
Non-human Primate Contact (Category 3)
BOHC plus attention to the following category specific diseases:
Tuberculosis: This zoonotic disease can be devastating in a monkey colony. Due to the significant hazard associated with tuberculosis, special precautions are taken for individuals working with non-human primates or their products or care devices. Tuberculin skin testing is performed every six months for all employees or participants with non-human primate, product or device contact. No person with active TB will be allowed into an UNMC primate facility.
Rubeola (measles): Measles can be a deadly disease to nonhuman primates. Persons with active cases of measles will be prohibited entry to any UNMC primate facility. All employees working in rooms containing non-human primates must have documented proof of immunity or be vaccinated.
Macacine herpesvirus 1 (Other names for this virus include Herpes B-virus, Monkey B virus and Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1): participants are apprised of the issues surrounding this disease which can result from bites, scratches, needle sticks and mucosal exposure from rhesus, cynomologus and other "Old World" monkeys of the genus Macaca. Since there is no vaccine for this disease, training in proper primate handling and care is essential. Additionally, wound management procedures will be re-enforced during primate training sessions required by the IACUC and Comparative Medicine.
Reporting Work Related Injuries
Comparative Medicine maintains logs for reporting purposes:
• Incident log including "bite/Scratches."
Employees must promptly report all suspected work related injuries and illnesses:
• During work hours: Report to the Employee Health Clinic at Clarkson Hospital.
• After normal work hours: Report to the NMC Emergency Department for medical care. Report to Employee Health Clinic the next work day for follow-up evaluation and documentation.
•Immediate life threatening (any time): Report to the NMC Emergency Department for medical care. Report to Employee Health Clinic the next work day for follow-up and documentation.
Injuries resulting from cuts on cages and from direct animal contact are of particular concern due to potential infection, e.g., tetanus and Monkey B-virus.
Many agents responsible for viral, bacterial and parasitic infections are capable of infecting humans. Employees are counseled to report any gastrointestinal, respiratory or dermal illnesses which may resemble the signs of infections in the animals in their care.
Surveillance Recall
Employees or participants who are enrolled in the OHSP are periodically recalled for medical follow-up depending on the specific type of animals exposure:
• Participants working with animals in Category 1 are recalled every 3rd year for followup risk assessment.
• Participants working with animals in Category 2 are recalled every 3rd year for followup risk assessment.
• Participants working with Non-Human Primates Category 3 are routinely recalled every six months for TB status and every 3rd year for followup risk assessment.
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