Characterization of Bioaerosols in Controlled Environment Broiler Houses at Different Stages of Growth

Abstract

Poultry is critical in fulfilling the protein requirements of the growing populations across the world. However, concerns about the public and environmental health impacts of bioaerosols emissions from intensive poultry facilities are increasing. In the present study, characterization of bioaerosols from air and litter samples was carried out using both culture and non-culture based methods (Flow cytometry). Eighteen controlled environment broiler houses (with approximate 27000 birds) were investigated and categorized into three groups on the basis of age: group I (1-20 days), group II (21-30 days) and group III (31-40 days). The air samples were collected on a polycarbonate filter using a volumetric pump at a height of 1.5 m both indoor and outdoor of the houses. The litter samples were collected from the floor in sterilized falcon tubes. An increase in the bacterial and fungal count was observed with the age of birds for both indoor air and litter samples. The bacteria found in the litter were reflected in the air but for fungal count, no such association was noticed. Outdoor air samples showed low microbial count as compared to indoor ones. Higher concentrations were recorded for the indoor and outdoor environment with the flow cytometry as compared to culturebased methods.

Detection of virulence, specific genes and antibiotic resistance of isolated Salmonella spp. strains from rabbits infected with salmonellosis

“…Overall, the essential biochemical characteristics of Salmonella spp. in this study were similar to those of other reports [20,21].…”

Bacterial Community Characteristics Shaped by Artificial Environmental PM2.5 Control in Intensive Broiler Houses

“…In some recent reports, Dai et al found that Staphylococcus, Faecalibacterium, Ruminococcus, Corynebacterium, and Blautia accounted for a large proportion in the analysis of the microbial community of the chicken house [1], whereas Wu et al reported that Jeotgalicoccus, Facklamia, Psychrobacter, Brachybacterium, and Brevibacterium accounted for dominance [12]. Although the results of the dominant taxa were not completely consistent, several related studies have shown that the bacterial community structure in broiler houses is determined by environmental factors and is considerably different from that in the atmosphere [13,35]. Our results on significant differences in airborne bacteria revealed that the variation in bacterial characteristics is large and random in atmospheric environments without human intervention, whereas changes in the abundance, diversity, composition, and structure of bacteria in a broiler house environment are mainly affected by artificial controls.…”

Airborne transmission of biological agents within the indoor built environment: a multidisciplinary review

“…Some differential media are also selective, for instance, MacConkey agar, which is selective for Gram-negative coliforms and can also differentiate between lactose-fermenting and non-lactose-fermenting bacteria (Ahmed et al 2016 ; Nigro and Steward 2015 ). Such traditional microbiological culture-based approaches have been followed recently for indoor bioaerosol characterisation (Yasmeen et al 2020 ; and Nasir et al 2018 ).…”