OCCURRENCE AND DISSEMINATION OF MANURE-BORNE ZOONOTIC PATHOGENS

With the mission to develop cost-effective management practices, technologies and decision aids that will allow producers capture manure's value, without threatening human and animal health, this project, over the next three years, will evaluate and adapt methods for characterizing human pathogens in, and dissemination from, animal manure and waste management systems. Characterization of manure-borne pathogens is required before development of effective reduction or elimination strategies can begin. Essential background information on the presence and fate of manure-borne pathogens will involve two approaches. First, a comprehensive study will be conducted to determine the presence of human pathogens and indicator microorganisms in fecal, sediment, wastewater, and water samples at, and nearby, a commercial cattle feedlot. Recovery efficiency studies will be conducted for each sample type to determine the ability of each method to recover and detect the
microorganisms under study. The microorganisms under study will include: shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli, Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium parvum, and indicator microorganisms (coliforms, Clostridium perfringens, Enterococcus and coliphage). The second objective will determine whether bioaerosols, containing, pathogenic bacteria (shiga toxigenic E. coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter) and indicators, are generated by livestock waste management practices