[The hygienic disposal and rendering of dead animals and animal waste]

In this publication an overview is made of both the fundamental and practical approaches laid down in the 'WHO Guidelines on the hygienic disposal and rendering of dead animals and animal wastes to protect human and animal health'. It describes methods that can be used both in developed and developing countries for the hygienic disposal and rendering of contaminated animal materials. In view of the various veterinary-hygienic measures that might be taken a distinction is made between low-risk materials (for instance slaughter offal of healthy animals) and high-risk materials (for instance animals that died because of infectious diseases). The hygienic disposal of low-risk materials is usually done by sterilisation in autoclaves or by cooking, so that proteins and fat may be re-used, mostly in the form of animal feed components. High-risk materials should at the least be sterilised or otherwise be burnt. Attention is also paid to the hygiene in rendering plants, particularly concerning the avoidance of cross-contamination from raw to decontaminated materials. Finally aspects of environmental hygiene are discussed and attention is paid to the protection of the personnel that is involved in the hygienic disposal and rendering of dead animals and animal wastes.