Recovery of gastrointestinal swine parasites in anaerobic biodigester systems

Abstract

Solid and liquid wastes from livestock operations represent important challenges for animal production regarding their impact in the environment and public health. Parasitological tests performed on 80 samples of affluent and effluent waters from three anaerobic biodigestors with flexible structure from swine farms of Caldas -Colombia, showed the presence of Isospora suis (45%), Eimeria suis (42.5%), E. espinosa (35%), Strongyloides ransomi (28.8%), E. perminuta (12.5%), E. cerdonis (3.8%), and E. porci (2.5%). The additional finding of eggs of Taenia spp. in 10% of the samples was probably caused by a connection between the human sewage system and the biodigester. Although we observed a mean decrease of 65.6% of parasites, these levels were insufficient to meet the minimum requirement set by Engelberg's guidelines regarding water quality. This study demonstrates the serious environmental impact that an inadequately treated animal wastewater represents, and has important implications for water resources and human health.Keywords: Wastewater, biodigestor, swine parasites, Taenia, Eimeria. ResumoResíduos sólidos e líquidos oriundos da suinocultura representam desafios importantes para a produção animal no que diz respeito ao impacto do meio ambiente e em saúde pública. Testes parasitológicos foram realizados em 80 amostras de águas afluentes e efluentes de três biodigestores anaeróbicos com estrutura flexível em granjas de Caldas -Colômbia, demonstrando a presença de Isospora suis (45%), Eimeria suis (42,5%), E. espinosa (35%), Strongyloides ransomi (28,8%), E. perminuta (12,5%), E. cerdonis (3,8%) e E. porci (2,5%). A constatação adicional de ovos de Taenia spp. em 10% das amostras foi provavelmente causada pela conexão entre o sistema de esgoto humano e o biodigestor. Embora fosse observada uma diminuição média de 65,6% dos parasitas, estes níveis são insuficientes para atender ao requisito mínimo estabelecido pelas diretrizes Engelberg em relação à qualidade da água. Este estudo demonstra o grave impacto ambiental que águas residuais animais inadequadamente tratadas representam, bem como as implicações nos recursos hídricos e na saúde humana.

Parasites of pigs in two farms with poor husbandry practices in Bishoftu, Ethiopia

“…This variation could be because of the difference in pig husbandry practices in the various study areas. Several species of Eimeria and Isospora suis have been identified from pigs (Cañon-Franco, Henão-Agudelo & Pérez-Bedoya 2012 ; Eysker et al . 1994 ; Mundt et al .…”

Persistence of pathogens in liquid pig manure processed in manure tanks and biodigesters

“…Meanwhile, persistence could be due to short storage processing times, especially in the case of high amounts of pathogens. For this reason, some authors (13,24) consider longer retention times than those used in this study to be necessary.…”

“…Biological considerations of these parasites described in pig manure tanks apply similarly to biodigesters. Cañon-Franco et al (24) evaluated the efficiency of anaerobic digesters in eliminating parasites after 15 days of HRT, finding that the time is insufficient for complete removal of Isospora suis oocytes and different species of Eimeria such as Strongyloides ransomi eggs. In this study the results are similar in terms of the persistence of coccidia, but not in terms of Strongyloides spp.…”

Mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático mediante la implementación de modelos integrados para el manejo y aprovechamiento de los residuos pecuarios. Revisión

“…Otro tipo de biodigestores muy populares en México son los tubulares de polietileno (tipo Taiwán), los cuales, han sido eficientes en sistemas de traspatio para la generación y autoconsumo del biogás generado, sin embargo, este tipo de biodigestores bajo esquemas de producción pecuaria suelen quedar rebasados por la producción de residuos, sin que su adopción represente un beneficio. Además, en estudios recientes se ha demostrado que este tipo de biodigestores bajo flujo continuo en granjas porcícolas no son capaces de eliminar ciertos patógenos como: L. intracellularis, S. aureus, E. coli, Salmonella spp, mesófilos aerobios, Clostridium sulfito reductores, coliformes totales y coccidias (64,65) , lo que hace que represente un riesgo sanitario el uso de sus efluentes como biol o fertilizante.…”