Microbiological Safety of Chicken Litter or Chicken Litter-Based Organic Fertilizers: A Review

Abstract

Abstract:Chicken litter or chicken litter-based organic fertilizers are usually recycled into the soil to improve the structure and fertility of agricultural land. As an important source of nutrients for crop production, chicken litter may also contain a variety of human pathogens that can threaten humans who consume the contaminated food or water. Composting can inactivate pathogens while creating a soil amendment beneficial for application to arable agricultural land. Some foodborne pathogens may have the potential to survive for long periods of time in raw chicken litter or its composted products after land application, and a small population of pathogenic cells may even regrow to high levels when the conditions are favorable for growth. Thermal processing is a good choice for inactivating pathogens in chicken litter or chicken litter-based organic fertilizers prior to land application. However, some populations may become acclimatized to a hostile environment during build-up or composting and develop heat resistance through cross-protection during subsequent high temperature treatment. Therefore, this paper reviews currently available information on the microbiological safety of chicken litter or chicken litter-based organic fertilizers, and discusses about further research on developing novel and effective disinfection techniques, including physical, chemical, and biological treatments, as an alternative to current methods.

Recovery and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella from fresh goat meat in Arusha, Tanzania

“…Examples include reports of increased prevalence of Salmonella from poultry and beef that are resistant to fluoroquinolones and thirdgeneration cephalosporins (Ahmed et al, 2014;CabreraDiaz et al, 2013;M'ikanatha et al, 2010). The increased use of antibiotics during animal breeding can introduce a selective pressure that leads to the development of resistance or even multi-resistance characteristics in some bacterial populations (Chen and Jiang, 2014). Occurrence of Salmonella isolates that were resistant to ≥1 antibiotic was uncommon (10.5% of 219).…”

Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella Species in Pakistan: A Brief Overview

“…This kind of immunity is acquired under the need of natural selection and survival of fittest [1]. The excessive use of antibiotics is introducing a selective pressure which is becoming responsible of resistance or even multi-resistance characteristics in some of the bacterial populations [10]. Mutation in genes that control metabolic pathways also results in antibiotic resistance [6].…”

It is Time for Action in the Struggle against Antibiotic-Resistance, Let’s Start Reducing or Replacing Antibiotics in Agriculture

“…AMR from animals can be transferred to humans in two manners: i. the food-supply, in particular resistant strains of Campylobacter and Salmonella, two major food-borne pathogens, come from livestock; ii. Resistance genes from animal bacteria spread in the food and environment (by animal waste) could be transferred to human pathogens by horizontal gene transfer [5]. It has also been described a direct transmission from animals infected with Staphylococcus aureus methicillin resistant (MRSA) to farm workers [6].…”