Effects of recycled manure solids bedding on the spread of gastrointestinal parasites in the environment of dairies and milk

Abstract

The primary aim of this work was to isolate common bovine digestive tract parasites in recycled manure bedding (RMS), as well as to determine the ability of current RMS preparation procedures to eliminate these pathogens. Other objectives were to assess whether any of the aforementioned parasites could be retrieved in bulk milk from dairies using RMS and to study whether the prevalence of these parasites differed among manure of cows housed on RMS versus on straw bedding. For the study, 27 RMS farms and 61 control farms were recruited. Samples of manure from the pre-pit and milk from the bulk tank were recovered from straw-bedding farms and RMS-based farms. In addition, samples from the manure solid fraction after liquid extraction, RMS before use, and RMS currently in use were recovered from RMS herds. Parasites were first detected by double centrifugation zinc sulfate flotation to enhance isolation of gastrointestinal protozoa, and by modified Wisconsin sugar flotation for the appraisal of gastrointestinal nematodes. Cryptosporidium parasites were confirmed by nested PCR amplification and sequencing of a portion of the gene encoding the small subunit rRNA. Results revealed a high prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. (C. parvum, C. andersoni, and C. meleagridis, identified by PCR) and Eimeria spp. (mainly E. bovis and E. zuernii) parasites in both types of farms, with a larger proportion of manure samples from RMS-bedded farms testing positive for Cryptosporidium parasites compared with manure from straw-bedded farms. Both Cryptosporidium spp. and Eimeria spp. oocysts were found at every step of RMS preparation and transformation, showing that current RMS preparation strategies do not guarantee the destruction of protozoan parasites. Cryptosporidium parvum, a potential zoonotic risk for professionals in close contact with livestock, was found to be present in 32 out of 61 straw-bedded and 24 of 27 RMS farms. No protozoan parasites were found in any sample derived from bulk milk, neither by microscopy analysis nor by molecular methods.

Prevalence and infection risk factors of bovine Eimeria in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Infection of calves with a large number of oocysts of E. zuernii or E. bovis may lead to severe diarrhea including blood, intestinal tissue, and fibrin [ 16 ]. Lasprilla-Mantilla et al have also proven this conclusion [ 40 ], which is consistent with our research results; however, the difference in our own analysis was not statistically significant. In our study, E. bareillyi had the highest prevalence, which may be due to the fact that the total number of samples taken in the study of E. bareillyi is only 50 cattle, and the total number of samples is too small, which leads to biased research results.…”

Biomass Energy Technologies from Innovative Dairy Farming Systems

“…The maintenance system was litter-free boxing with the possibility of mulching a bed of approximately 0.5 kg of separator per cow per day. The recycled manure bedding (RMS) was safe in bacteriological terms and free of parasites and did not cause any deterioration in milk quality [18][19][20][21]. It combined two advantages: it improved the comfort of cows' rest with litter material savings.…”

Clinical Mastitis Incidence in Dairy Cows Housed on Recycled Manure Solids Bedding: A Canadian Cohort Study

“…There are few studies on the association between RMS usage and animal health. It was demonstrated that Cryptosporidium parasites were found more frequently from the feces of cows in RMS farms compared with cows housed on straw bedding ( 6 ). In the same project, the presence of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp.…”

“…The objectives of this study were, therefore, to describe the total incidence of CM in dairy cows housed on recycled manure solids bedding and CM incidence by the main bacterial species and to compare these to herds using a more conventional type of bedding, straw. The results presented in this paper are part of a larger study on RMS farms, and results about milk quality, parasite survival, and bedding bacteriological analyses can be found elsewhere ( 6 , 11 ).…”