Bacterial Plume Emanating from the Air Surrounding Swine Confinement Operations

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of bacteria in the air plume immediately upwind at 25 m and downwind at locations 25 m, 50 m, 100 m, and 150 m from a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO). It was hypothesized that this would give insight into determining the maximal distance that bacterial organisms release from a CAFO could travel, which would be important in determining the optimal siting distance for future CAFO in relation to high population areas. The Andersen two-stage sampler was used to collect all of the bacterial samples from the animal confinement facilities. The data show a marked increase in bacterial CFUs/m3 inside the facility (18,132 CFU/m3 average) versus upwind (63 CFU/m3 average) anda steady down wind decrease out to approximately 150 m. Staphylococcus aureus was found to account for 76% of the organisms recovered. We conclude that the optimal placement of a swine CAFO would be at least 200 m from a residential area.

Use of a culture-independent approach to characterize aerosolized bacteria near an open-freestall dairy operation

“…Boutin et al (1988) found that airborne concentrations of indicator organisms decreased with downwind distance during the land application of swine and cattle slurries via tractor-pulled tanker and fixed high-pressure spray guns. A decreasing airborne microorganism concentration with increasing downwind distance is the general trend also documented by researchers at CAFOs (Chinivasagam et al, 2010;Dungan et al, 2010;Green et al, 2006). In recent study by Duan et al (2009), airborne E. coli were recovered at distances up to 100 m from swine houses, which were closely related to isolates obtained from indoor air and fecal samples.…”

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Pork Production Shower Facilities

“…Interestingly, this shower was separated from the swine barn, indicating that physical separation from animals or dust may be important. This arrangement may also limit airborne spread, which has been previously documented for S. aureus in and around swine barns (8,9). This study had several limitations, including a small sample size.…”

Concentrations of airborne endotoxin and microorganisms at a 10,000-cow open-freestall dairy1

“…Within animal housing units, there is an increase in the overall microbial load (Lange et al, 1997;Adhikari et al, 2004), leading to concerns about occupational exposures and offsite transport of microbial by-products and pathogens (Donham et al, 1989;Cole et al, 2000). In a study at a swine confinement operation, Green et al (2006) found that airborne bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and total coliforms) concentrations were about 300-fold greater indoors than upwind of the facility. Outdoor bacteria concentrations steadily decreased with distance from the facility, reaching background concentrations at about 150 m. At a ventilated broiler shed, outdoor concentrations of Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium were detected at 10 6 cfu·m −3 when 20 m downwind of an exhaust fan, but dropped off to background concentrations at 400 m (Chinivasagam et al, 2010).…”