Prevention of Disease Transmission2

All licensees and permit holders shall comply with the following requirements. (A) In accordance with 21 CFR 110.10: Personnel, it is the responsibility of the licensee to protect the integrity of food products by: (1) Developing and implementing a written plan for personnel health and hygiene (as part of the SSOP developed pursuant to 105 CMR 500.005(H)) that ensures that all personnel report to their supervisors illnesses or health conditions through which there is a reasonable possibility of products, product-contact surfaces, or packaging materials becoming contaminated; and Taking appropriate protective steps in accordance with Department policies or directives. (B) The licensee or permit holder, person in charge, or manager of any facility shall immediately notify the regulatory agency when he or she knows, or has reason to believe: (1) That any worker has been exposed to or contracted any disease transmissible through food or food products, or has become a carrier of such a disease, and/or (2) That an illness has occurred that may have been caused by a food product from the facility. (C) Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 94, § 305B, when the Program or the board of health knows or has reason to believe that a worker has contracted a disease transmissible through food or has become a carrier of such a disease, it may: Obtain a confidential medical history of the suspected person and make other investigations as deemed appropriate; and Take any other action required by 105 CMR 300.000: Reportable Diseases, Surveillance, and Isolation and Quarantine Requirements. 2 The requirements in 105 CMR 500.008 apply to all facilities that are not subject to USDA inspection, and are recommended for all facilities that are subject to USDA inspection. (D) The board of health shall immediately notify the Program of suspected transmission of disease through food to any person, and shall keep the Program informed until any investigation is completed. (E) The Commissioner or his or her designee, on his or her own initiative or at the request of a board of health, may require any person whose duties actually involve the handling of ingredients, products, or product contact surfaces to submit to a medical examination, which may include the taking of samples of body fluids, secretions, or excretions, whenever said Commissioner or designee has reason to believe that such examination is necessary for the protection of the public health. The examination shall be without charge to the person examined and at the expense of the Department or of the board of health requesting it. (F) Any person who fails to cooperate with any medical or laboratory examination ordered by the Commissioner or designee shall immediately be excluded from the performance of duties involving the handling of ingredients, products, or product contact surfaces. (G) In addition, the Department or the board of health, where applicable, may issue an order instituting one or more of the following control measures: (1) Restricting particular persons' services to specific areas and tasks in the facility that present no risk of transmitting the disease; (2) Excluding particular persons from the facility; (3) Removing particular food products from sale; or (4) Closing the facility by summarily suspending the license or permit in accordance with 105 CMR 500.207(B). (H) The following diseases or disease organisms are known to be transmissible through food or food products: (1) Amebiasis; (2) Bacillus cereus; (3) Campylobacteriosis; (4) Cholera; (5) Cryptosporidiosis; (6) Cyclosporiasis; (7) E. coli O157 H:7 and other Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and Shiga toxin-producing organisms; (8) Giardiasis; (9) Hepatitis A virus; (10) Listeria monocytogenes; (11) Noroviruses; (12) Salmonella Typhi; (13) Salmonella spp. (Non-typhi) (14) Shigellosis; (15) Vibriosis (non-Cholera); (16) Yersiniosis; and (17) Any other disease transmissible though food so designated by the Department. This list is not intended to be exclusive, and the Department may, in a given case, determine that a risk of transmission exists from a disease or organism not specified in 105 CMR 500.008(H)(1) through (17).