Impacts of Poultry House Environment on Poultry Litter Bacterial Community Composition

Viral and bacterial pathogens are a significant economic concern to the US broiler industry and the ecological epicenter for poultry pathogens is the mixture of bedding material, chicken excrement and feathers that comprises the litter of a poultry house. This study used high-throughput sequencing to assess the richness and diversity of poultry litter bacterial communities, and to look for connections between these communities and the environmental characteristics of a poultry house including its history of gangrenous dermatitis (GD). Cluster analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed differences in the distribution of bacterial phylotypes between Wet and Dry litter samples and between houses. Wet litter contained greater diversity with 90% of total bacterial abundance occurring within the top 214 OTU clusters. In contrast, only 50 clusters accounted for 90% of Dry litter bacterial abundance. The sixth largest OTU cluster across all samples classified as an Arcobacter sp., an emerging human pathogen, occurring in only the Wet litter samples of a house with a modern evaporative cooling system. Ironically, the primary pathogenic clostridial and staphylococcal species associated with GD were not found in any house; however, there were thirteen 16S rRNA gene phylotypes of mostly Gram-positive phyla that were unique to GD-affected houses and primarily occurred in Wet litter samples. Overall, the poultry house environment appeared to substantially impact the composition of litter bacterial communities and may play a key role in the emergence of food-borne pathogens

Efeito da aplicação de bissulfato de sódio sobre cama de frangos na sobrevivência de Escherichia coli e coliformes Effect of sodium bisulfite application on the bed of broiler on survival of Escherichia coli and coliforms

Avaliou-se o efeito do bissulfato de sódio, aplicado sobre a cama de frangos, criados em diferentes densidades, na sobrevivência de Escherichia coli e coliformes, utilizando-se as densidades de 12, 16 e 20 aves/m², com a inoculação de uma cepa de E. coli. Houve maior desenvolvimento microbiano no 21º dia de criação, com tendência de redução a partir daí. A eficácia do bissulfato de sódio foi maior nos primeiros dias do experimento.<br>The effect of sodium bisulfate has been evaluated on survival of Escherichia coli and coliforms, when applied on the broiler beds, adopting different densities. It has been adopted densities of 12, 16 and 20 birds/m², using inoculations of E. coli strains. The results have shown the highest microbial development on the 21st day of inoculation, with a trend of a microbial reduction afterwards. The sodium bisulfate was efficient during the first days of analyses, reducing its efficacy during the experiment

The potential uses of operational earthquake forecasting

This article reports on a workshop held to explore the potential uses of operational earthquake forecasting (OEF). We discuss the current status of OEF in the United States and elsewhere, the types of products that could be generated, the various potential users and uses of OEF, and the need for carefully crafted communication protocols. Although operationalization challenges remain, there was clear consensus among the stakeholders at the workshop that OEF could be useful. © 2016, Seismological Society of America. All rights reserved

Influence of different litter materials on cecal microbiota colonization in broiler chickens

A chicken growth study was conducted to determine if litter type influenced gut microbiota and performance in broilers. Seven bedding materials were investigated and included soft and hardwood sawdust, softwood shavings, shredded paper, chopped straw, rice hulls, and reused softwood shavings. Microbial profiling was done to investigate changes in cecal bacterial communities associated with litter material and age. Cecal microbiota were investigated at 14 and 28 d of age (n = 12 birds/litter material). At both ages, the cecal microbiota of chickens raised on reused litter was significantly (P 0.05) differences were observed in feed conversion ratio among birds raised on any of the 7 different litter materials at either 14 or 28 d of age. The type of litter material can influence colonization and development of cecal microbiota in chickens. Litter-induced changes in the gut microbiota may be partially responsible for some of the significant differences observed in early rates of growth; therefore, litter choice may have an important role in poultry gut health particularly in the absence of in-feed antibiotics.V.A. Torok, R.J. Hughes, K. Ophel-Keller, M. Ali, and R. MacAlpin