Survival of Indicator and Pathogenic Bacteria in Bovine Feces on Pasture

The survival of enteric bacteria was measured in bovine feces on pasture. In each season, 11 cow pats were prepared from a mixture of fresh dairy cattle feces and sampled for up to 150 days. Four pats were analyzed for Escherichia coli, fecal streptococci, and enterococci, and four inoculated pats w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2007-12, Vol.73 (24), p.7917-7925
Main Authors: Sinton, Lester W, Braithwaite, Robin R, Hall, Carollyn H, Mackenzie, Margaret L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria
Biological and medical sciences
Campylobacter jejuni
Cattle
Colony Count, Microbial
Desiccation
Enterobacteriaceae - growth & development
Enterobacteriaceae - isolation & purification
Enterococcus
Escherichia coli
Feces
Feces - microbiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Microbial Ecology
Microbial Viability
Microbiology
Pastures
Salmonella enterica
Temperature
Time Factors
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Summary:The survival of enteric bacteria was measured in bovine feces on pasture. In each season, 11 cow pats were prepared from a mixture of fresh dairy cattle feces and sampled for up to 150 days. Four pats were analyzed for Escherichia coli, fecal streptococci, and enterococci, and four inoculated pats were analyzed for Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella enterica. Two pats were placed on drainage collectors, and another pat was fitted with a temperature probe. In the first 1 to 3 weeks, there were increases (up to 1.5 orders of magnitude) in the counts of enterococci (in four seasons), E. coli (three seasons), fecal streptococci (three seasons), and S. enterica (two seasons), but there was no increase in the counts of C. jejuni. Thereafter, the counts decreased, giving an average ranking of the times necessary for 90% inactivation of C. jejuni (6.2 days from deposition) < fecal streptococci (35 days) < S. enterica (38 days) < E. coli (48 days) < enterococci (56 days). The pat temperature probably influenced bacterial growth, but the pattern of increases and decreases was primarily determined by desiccation; growth occurred when the water content was greater than 80%, but at a water content of 70 to 75% counts decreased. E. coli and enterococcus regrowth appeared to result from pat rehydration. Of 20 monthly leaching losses of E. coli, 16 were
ISSN:0099-2240
1098-5336
DOI:10.1128/AEM.01620-07