Zoonotic disease risks for clinic staff, and how to reduce them

What are the zoonotic disease risks for clinic staff?

Zoonotic disease risks for clinic staff are a recognized occupational hazard, and veterinary teams meet them every shift. The NASPHV compendium notes that 61% of known human pathogens and 75% of emerging diseases that affect people are zoonotic. These are the infections it lists as documented in veterinary personnel:

• Salmonellosis and cryptosporidiosis
• Dermatophytosis (ringworm) and sporotrichosis
• Leptospirosis
• Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection
• Psittacosis
• Bartonellosis
• Q fever and plague

Rabies isn't on that list of documented cases. It's still the reason the compendium recommends pre-exposure rabies vaccination for veterinary personnel, which we get to further down.

Bites, scratches and needlesticks open the door

Bites, scratches and needlesticks matter because each one can carry pathogens straight past the skin. The NASPHV compendium names animal bites and scratches, kick and crush injuries, and needlesticks as the most common occupational injuries in veterinary teams.

Start with the chart. The compendium says aggressive or fearful tendencies and bite history should be recorded in the patient's record, so whoever handles that cat next isn't surprised. Restraint should be done by trained staff, with muzzles, bite resistant gloves or sedation when needed.

Needles have their own rules. Don't bend them, don't pass one uncapped, don't walk around with one, and never hold a cap in your mouth. Recap only with the one handed scoop method. And log every needlestick and bite, then actually review the log, so protocols get fixed instead of just filed.

A bite history note only helps if the next person reads it. In PetGrid, notes and vaccines with lot numbers live in the patient record every clinical role can open, and team and roles keep each person's access to what their job needs.

Standard precautions that do most of the work

Hand hygiene does more than any other single measure. The Canadian Committee on Antibiotic Resistance's infection prevention and control best practices for small animal clinics call it the most important way to stop infections spreading, and stress that gloves don't replace it. The NASPHV compendium recommends hand hygiene after contact with animals, their fluids and surfaces in animal areas, and after taking gloves off.

1. Wash or use alcohol based hand rub between every patient and after removing gloves.
2. Wear gloves for contact with feces, body fluids, wounds and animals with suspected infectious disease.
3. Add facial protection when splashes or sprays are likely, such as dentals, wound flushing and necropsy.
4. Keep clinic outerwear in the clinic, and launder it there or by a service.
5. Clean before you disinfect, and follow the disinfectant's contact time.
6. Isolate patients with suspected infectious disease, with dedicated equipment and PPE.

You don't have to build this from scratch. The Ontario Animal Health Network hosts the 2020 edition of the IPC best practices for small animal clinics, with chapters on PPE, cleaning and disinfection, laundry and waste, and an IPC audit checklist you can use as is.

Staff who need extra protection

Staff with weakened immune systems and pregnant staff need extra protection, because the NASPHV compendium says they're more susceptible to zoonotic infections and more likely to have serious complications. It names toxoplasmosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, brucellosis, listeriosis and psittacosis as infections pregnant women are more susceptible to.

Some patients carry more risk than others. The compendium points to young, parturient, unvaccinated, stray or feral, raw fed or shelter animals, animals with parasites, wildlife, reptiles and amphibians, and exotic species. Some tasks do too, like processing lab samples and necropsy.

Anyone with an immune or pregnancy concern should talk to their own health care provider, and the employer should assess the hazards and adjust duties. Keep those conversations private. Nobody should have to announce a pregnancy at the morning huddle.

Ask staff to tell a manager early about pregnancy or an immune condition, so duties can be adjusted before exposure, not after.

Rabies pre-exposure vaccination for veterinary teams

The Canadian Immunization Guide puts veterinarians, veterinary staff and veterinary students in a moderate risk group who should be offered rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis. The schedule is two doses, on day 0 and between day 7 and 28. Where the risk is expected to last three years or more, it recommends a booster, ideally 12 to 24 months after the second dose.

Routine antibody testing generally isn't recommended, the guide says. People who might have exposures they don't notice can arrange periodic serology with their health care provider, and a titre below 0.5 IU/mL warrants a booster.

One thing pre-exposure vaccination doesn't do is replace prompt care after a bite. Staff should still report every exposure and follow public health advice.

Put it in a written infection control plan

Every practice should have a written infection control plan, the NASPHV compendium says, and it offers a model plan you can adapt. A useful one names who's responsible, lists the precautions for each area and task, and covers isolation, injury reporting and staff health. Review it regularly, build it into onboarding for new hires, and keep training records. For running your team and records in one place, have a look at the clinic features.

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Em resumo

Zoonotic disease risks for clinic staff are real, and mostly manageable. Hand hygiene, the right PPE, careful restraint and needle handling, attention to higher risk staff, rabies pre-exposure vaccination and a written plan cover most of it.

PetGrid helps by keeping vaccination status, visit notes and bite history in one record the clinical team can see. Our security page explains how we protect clinic data, or you can see the system in a short demo.