Levels of fungi in the air of poultry farms following different stages of birds’ growth cycle

Poultry production intensification might influence microbial development. Concerning fungal assessment, despite the limited number of studies, several fungi have already been found in poultry pavilions. Occupational health specialists frequently overlook worker safety and biological risk assessment due to a lack of systematic knowledge regarding the agents involved. Consequently, workers, exposed to organic dust are at risk of developing various respiratory diseases. This study aimed to analyze indoor and outdoor fungal load at different stages of the poultries growth cycle. The sampling campaign was conducted in Winter in 14 poultry pavilions. Air samples from indoor (n = 47) and outdoor (n = 20) were taken before bird placement (sanitary control), followed by 1st, 2nd and 3rd weeks. The impactor MAS-100 was set at 100 L/min for 5 min. Fungal loads indoors exceed the outdoor in all stages of the production cycle. Besides, fungal occurrence was also identified during sanitary control (5%). The acquired data can provide new insights into the variation in fungal air concentrations during different phases of poultry growth. The data obtained should be complemented with qualitative research. Together, this information will support the development of mitigation techniques aiming to protect workers, animals, and environmental health and thus following a One Health approach.

Description

This project was supported by FCT/MCTES UIDP/05608/2020, and UIDB/05608/2020. This work is also supported by national funds through FCT/MCTES/FSE/UE, 2023.01366.BD; UI/BD/153746/2022 and CE3C unit UIDB/00329/2020; UI/BD/151431/2021; and Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, national support through IPL/2022/InChildhealth/BI/12M; IPL/IDI&CA2023/FoodAIIEU_ESTeSL; IPL/IDI&CA2023/ASPRisk_ESTeSL; IPL/IDI&CA2023/ARAFSawmills_ESTeSL.

Keywords

Fungal exposure One Health Bioaerosols Poultry farms FCT_UIDP/05608/2020 FCT_UIDB/05608/2020 PL/2022/InChildhealth/BI/12M IPL/IDI&CA2023/FoodAIIEU_ESTeSL PL/IDI&CA2023/ASPRisk_ESTeSL IPL/IDI&CA2023/ARAFSawmills_ESTeSL

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/21778

Citation

Gomes B, Dias M, Pena P, Cervantes R, Rodriguez M, Marques L, Riesenberger B, Carolino E, Viegas C. Levels of fungi in the air of poultry farms following different stages of birds’ growth cycle. In: Baptista JS, Melo RB, Carneiro P, Castelo Branco J, Costa N, Duarte J, et al. Occupational and environmental safety and health VI: occupational risk assessment, management and case studies (Vol. I). Cham: Springer; 2025. p. 147-55.