Intervention Strategies for Carcass Disposal: Pareto Analysis of Exposures for Exotic Disease Outbreaks

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2010-06, Vol.44 (12), p.4416-4425
• Main Authors: Delgado, João, Longhurst, Phil, Hickman, Gordon A. W, Gauntlett, Daniel M, Howson, Simon F, Irving, Phil, Hart, Alwyn, Pollard, Simon J. T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Applied sciences; Disease Outbreaks; Environmental Exposure - analysis; Environmental policy; Epidemics; Exact sciences and technology; Expert Testimony; Hazardous Substances; Health Policy; Health risk assessment; Human exposure; Humans; Meat; Pollution; Refuse Disposal - methods; Risk Factors; Waste disposal
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es100039n

An enhanced methodology for the policy-level prioritization of intervention options during carcass disposal is presented. Pareto charts provide a semiquantitative analysis of opportunities for multiple exposures to human health, animal health, and the wider environment during carcass disposal; they identify critical control points for risk management and assist in waste technology assessment. Eighty percent of the total availability of more than 1300 potential exposures to human, animal, or environmental receptors is represented by 16 processes, these being dominated by on-farm collection and carcass processing, reinforcing the criticality of effective controls during early stages of animal culling and waste processing. Exposures during mass burials are dominated by ground- and surface-water exposures with noise and odor nuisance prevalent for mass pyres, consistent with U.K. experience. Pareto charts are discussed in the context of other visualization formats for policy officials and promoted as a communication tool for informing the site-specific risk assessments required during the operational phases of exotic disease outbreaks.