Titre
Exposure to bioaerosols in poultry houses at different stages of fattening; use of real-time PCR for airborne bacterial quantification
Type
article
Institution
UNIL/CHUV/Unisanté + institutions partenaires
Périodique
Auteur(s)
Oppliger, Anne
Auteure/Auteur
Charriere, Nicole
Auteure/Auteur
Droz, Pierre-Olivier
Auteure/Auteur
Rinsoz, Thomas
Auteure/Auteur
Liens vers les personnes
Liens vers les unités
ISSN
1475-3162
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2008
Volume
52
Numéro
5
Première page
405
Dernière page/numéro d’article
412
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Langue
anglais
Résumé
Previous studies have demonstrated that poultry house workers are exposed to very high levels of organic dust and consequently have an increased prevalence of adverse respiratory symptoms. However, the influence of the age of broilers on bioaerosol concentrations has not been investigated. To evaluate the evolution of bioaerosol concentration during the fattening period, bioaerosol parameters (inhalable dust, endotoxin and bacteria) were measured in 12 poultry confinement buildings in Switzerland, at three different stages of the birds' growth; samples of air taken from within the breathing zones of individual poultry house employees as they caught the chickens ready to be transported for slaughter were also analysed. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) was used to assess the quantity of total airborne bacteria and total airborne Staphylococcus species. Bioaerosol levels increased significantly during the fattening period of the chickens. During the task of catching mature birds, the mean inhalable dust concentration for a worker was 26 +/- 1.9 mg m(-3) and endotoxin concentration was 6198 +/- 2.3 EU m(-3) air, >6-fold higher than the Swiss occupational recommended value (1000 EU m(-3)). The mean exposure level of bird catchers to total bacteria and Staphylococcus species measured by Q-PCR is also very high, respectively, reaching values of 53 (+/-2.6) x 10(7) cells m(-3) air and 62 (+/-1.9) x 10(6) m(-3) air. It was concluded that in the absence of wearing protective breathing apparatus, chicken catchers in Switzerland risk exposure beyond recommended limits for all measured bioaerosol parameters. Moreover, the use of Q-PCR to estimate total and specific numbers of airborne bacteria is a promising tool for evaluating any modifications intended to improve the safety of current working practices
PID Serval
serval:BIB_C6A62F83F43B
PMID
Open Access
Oui
Date de création
2009-01-29T21:14:41.594Z
Date de création dans IRIS
2025-05-21T03:33:27Z
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Nom
BIB_C6A62F83F43B.P001.pdf
Version du manuscrit
published
Taille
111.92 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
PID Serval
serval:BIB_C6A62F83F43B.P001
URN
urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_C6A62F83F43B4
Somme de contrôle
(MD5):a8847eb895629a3cfd17ce9810239b0b