title: Assessing the biosafety risks of pig manure for use as a feedstock for composting.
abstract: The objective was to assess the biosafety risks of pig manure for use as a feedstock for composting. Salmonella was detected in the manure from half of the 30 pig farms sampled, with 52% of isolates recovered identified as multi-drug resistant S. Typhimurium. The highest prevalence (60%) was found on Salmonella category 2 and 3 farms i.e. those with medium and high Salmonella seroprevalence, respectively, although this was not statistically significant. Escherichia coli counts were, however, significantly higher in manure from Salmonella category 3 farms. Manure separation may be useful as a means of reducing/eliminating pathogens from manure prior to composting, as manure solids generated using a decanter centrifuge had lower E. coli and Enterococcus counts than manure. These findings should be taken into consideration when selecting pig manure for use as a feedstock for compost or other marketable manure by-products.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical & Life Sciences, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford, Ireland; Teagasc Pig Development Department, Animal & Grassland Research & Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Lawlor
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Gardiner
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000592:standards; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D000818:Animals; D058491:Bacterial Load; D016983:Enterococcus; D004926:Escherichia coli; D008372:Manure / Q000382:microbiology*; D012449:Safety; D012475:Salmonella; D012987:Soil; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D008372:Manure; D012987:Soil
keywords: Compost; Pathogen; Salmonella; Separation