Assessment of Salmonella and Fungi Air Contamination in a Poultry Farm

Abstract

Microbial analysis was carried out to determine the Salmonella and Fungi concentration within the aerosol of Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic Poultry Farm, Rumuola, and employing sedimentation technique for two sessions daily during the study period. The average range of Salmonella concentration in the indoor analysis is 6.6 x 10¹ cfu/m³ to 4.41 x 10² cfu/m3 (morning session) and 4.25 x 10³ cfu/m³ to 9.4 x 10³ cfu/m³ (afternoon session), while the outdoor air analysis ranged from 6.0 x 10² cfu/m³ to 6.39 x 10³ cfu/m³ (morning session) and 8.0 x 10³ cfu/m³ to 1.61 x 10⁴ cfu/m³ (afternoon session). The average fungal count in the indoor air analysis ranged from 4.4 x 10²cfu/m³ to 2.0 x 10⁴ cfu/m³ (morning session) and 2.6 x 10² cfu/m³ to 1.0 x 10⁴ cfu/m³ (afternoon session). The average fungal count for outdoor air analysis ranged from 4.2 x 10² cfu/m³ to 1.2 x 10³ cfu/m³ (morning session) and 9.7 x 10² cfu/m³ to 1.2 x 10³ cfu/m³ (afternoon session). The results obtained from the poultry farm shows that few values are outside the recommended limit of 5000 cfu/m³. Hence, regular orientation and sanitation is needed, particularly in a post COVID-19 era as this will reduce the risk of possible infection and health hazards to the poultry users.