The results of a study assessing the level of airborne contamination in intensive broiler breeding facilities are presented. The content of corpuscular particulates of various origin (dust, bacteria, fungi), ammonia and carbon dioxide was determined. The investigations were conducted in a poultry house on a family farm in the area of moderate continental climate during spring 2006. The air concentration of bacteria ranged from 1.7 &times; 104 to 2.2 &times; 105 cfu/m³, of fungi from 9.8 &times; 10³ to 8.5 &times; 10⁴ cfu/m³, of dust from 1.8 to 4.8 mg/m³, and of ammonia from 4 to 27.47 ppm. Total dust and fungi concentrations measured at the end of fattening period were almost identical to the initial ones, whereas the concentrations of bacteria and ammonia showed a sinusoidal rise from the beginning to the end of fattening period. In general, the analyzed air pollutants reached relatively high levels in the mid-fattening period and also show significant differentiation between fattening periods as demonstrated by <i>t</i>-test yielding statistical significance at a level of <i>P</i> < 0.05.

Poultry houses are generally considered to be a major source emitting various particles to the environment, which greatly depends on the technology of animal keeping and housing. Besides other contaminants, dust and endotoxins are present in high concentrations in the air of poultry houses.Dust concentrations in broiler facilities range from 2 to 10 mg/m 3 (Wathes et al., 1997). Investigating the mean daily airborne dust concentrations in various animal houses in England and Netherlands, Takai et al. (1998) found them to be significantly higher in poultry fattening houses than in other animal houses. They also found the airborne dust concentration in these facilities to be influenced by animal population density, animal activity, litter type, and air humidity. Hauser and Folsch (1993) Supported by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia (Grant No. 053-0531854-1867 ABSTRACT: Poultry farming is considered to be a notable source of bioaerosols. They can be a risk factor from the aspect of some diseases and for the environment. A study was conducted to assess the effect of microclimate on the level of airborne dust and endotoxins in an intensive broiler fattening facility. The content of airborne dust, endotoxins, air temperature, relative humidity, airflow velocity, ammonia and carbon dioxide were determined. The study was conducted in a poultry house accommodating 22 000 broilers of Ross-308 breed. The measured temperature in the broiler house ranged from 22.02°C to 31.05°C, relative humidity from 49.55% to 65.45%, and airflow velocity from 0.07 m/s to 0.09 m/s. The air concentration of dust ranged from 2.0 mg/m 3 at the end of fattening period to 4.9 mg/m 3 in the mid-fattening period, and endotoxins from 6.21 EU/m 3 in the second study week to 99.40 EU/m 3 at the end of fattening period. The air concentration of ammonia ranged from 5.17 ppm at the beginning to 25.49 ppm at the end of fattening period. Air concentrations of dust and endotoxins recorded in this poultry house varied during the fattening period and depended on relative humidity and temperature as demonstrated by multiple regression at the level of P ≤ 0.05.

This paper compares two different housing systems for laying hens producing table eggs, namely a conventional cage system and an aviary, during three summer months, starting from the 20^th week of the production cycle. Research was focused on airborne bacteria, fungi and dust levels and on the bacterial eggshell contamination. Levels of airborne bacteria determined in the aviary system were many times higher and ranged from 6.2 &times; 10⁴ CFU/m³to 8.9 &times; 104 CFU/m3, and the levels of airborne fungi ranged from 1.6 &times; 10⁴ to 1.9 &times; 104 CFU/m³, while the levels of airborne bacteria and fungi determined in the conventional cage system ranged from 1.6 &times; 10⁴ to 2.5 &times; 10⁴ CFU/m3 and from 0.8 &times; 10⁴ to 1.3 &times; 10⁴ CFU/m³, respectively. Microbial air contamination was associated with eggshell contamination, with the levels in the aviary ranging from 5.4 &times; 10³ to 9.6 &times; 103 CFU/eggshell and those in the conventional cage system ranging from 2.3 &times; 10³ to 3.6 &times; 10³ CFU/eggshell. Airborne dust levels in the aviary and conventional cage system ranged from 3.2 to 4.6 mg/m³ and from 0.7 to 1.2 mg/m³, respectively. From the aspect of animal welfare and behavioural requirements, alternative systems, i.e. aviaries, appear more acceptable; however, they are not satisfactory from hygienic aspects because of a higher content of airborne pollutants which can represent a greater risk of horizontal contamination of the egg content.

Prevalence of Candida Species in Fresh Fruit JuicesFruit juices are popular soft drinks with an important role in human nutrition. Fruit juices are often infested by yeast species that can survive different storage conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of yeast contamination of freshly squeezed juices in three large supermarkets in Zagreb, Croatia. The analysis included 84 juice samples obtained from freshly squeezed orange, lemon, grapefruit, and apples. Their acidity varied between pH 2.1 and pH 4.9. Juice samples were plated directly on Sabouraud 4 % glucose Agar (Merck, 1.05438) and processed according to standardised methods (HRN ISO 7954:2002). Yeasts were isolated in all 84 samples and ranged between 0.005×103 and 23×103 colony forming units per mL (CFU mL-1). The most common yeasts identified using the API 20C AUX yeast kit included Candida guillermondii, C. krusei, C. famata, C. spherica, C. colliculosa, C. albicans, Trichosporon mucoides, Kloeckera spp. and yeast-like fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. C. guillermondii prevailed in 55.95 % of all samples.