8-Health risks, waste disposal and decontamination

Planning an animal study must include a risk assessment, because of both the potential dangers to health from working directly or indirectly with animals or animal material.

A common factor for many of the health hazards (e.g. micro-organisms, carcinogens and radiation) is that they are difficult to detect. This places a great responsibility upon those who are involved in the hazardous activity, or who have enough knowledge to predict it, and those who are charged with the tasks of containment after accidents and subsequent decontamination. Openness is vital.

Health risks for fish researchers must be evaluated, since these may be zoonotic, such as Mycobacterium spp.

This section will be used to publish resources for fish researchers and animal care staff.

• Feist et al. (2019): The aquatic animal pandemic crisis
• Subasinghe et al. (2019): Vulnerabilities in aquatic animal production
• Report of the meeting of the OIE Ad Hoc group on susceptibility of fish species to infection with OIE listed diseases, Paris, 2-4 May 2018
• Haenen et al. (2013): Bacterial infections from aquatic species: potential for and prevention of contact zoonoses

This page was updated on 22 July 2021