title: Persistence of bacterial indicators and zoonotic pathogens in contaminated cattle wastes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Manure can provide a favourable environment for pathogens' survival. De-contamination may be conducted by extended storage, until field conditions are suitable for application to land as source of agricultural nutrients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The hygienic evaluation of manure and slurry coming from a plant that collects cattle livestock wastes from a big slaughterhouse was carried out. Samples were even collected from spillages in the area around the plant. Microbial analyses highlighted the massive presence of faecal indicators in all samples: mean counts of Escherichia coli and enterococci were always above EU limits for marketable processed manure products. Cultures referable to the genus Brucella spp. were recorded in two samples of fresh manure but not in the aged ones. Conventional isolation techniques failed to detect members of the Mycobacterium genus, while by means of IS900 and F57 PCR real-time system on DNA directly extracted from environmental samples, the pathogen was detected in all cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thoughtful design of manure storage infrastructure is critical to prevent spills and over-topping of an open structure. The documented overload situation seems to lay the basis for an ongoing environmental contamination by enteric organisms and opportunistic pathogens circuit faecal-oral route. Moreover, the type of wastes analysed during this study, namely a mixture of fresh cattle manure, bedding and rumen content, needs a longer storage period or, alternatively, of specific chemical, biological or thermal treatments for stabilization.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055, Portici (NA), Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blaiotta
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chirurgia Generale e Specialità Chirurgiche, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via del pozzo 71, 41124, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Cerbo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria e Produzione Animali, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Foria 223, 80139, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Murru
authors.affiliation: DAAA, Università degli Studi del Molise, Via de Sanctis, 86100, Campobasso, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055, Portici (NA), Italy. aponte@unina.it.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aponte
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002417:Cattle; D006801:Humans; D008372:Manure / Q000382:microbiology*; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D008372:Manure
keywords: Environmental risks; Faecal indicators; Livestock wastes; Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis; Pathogens; Storage