A significant human health and regulatory concern associated with livestock, poultry, and horse wastes are pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. More than 150 pathogens have been found in livestock manure that are associated with risks to humans. Among those are the six pathogens that account for more than 90 percent of food and waterborne diseases in humans, including Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp. (non-typhoid), Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Cryptosporidium parvum, and Giardia lamblia. Each of these organisms may be transmitted from one animal to another at an AFO. These organisms also have a relatively low infectious dose in humans (USEPA, 2002a, 2003a). Organisms such as Cryptosporidium that are relatively resistant to free chlorine and other common drinking water disinfection practices are of particular concern.
- Waterborne Pathogens in Agricultural Watersheds (Rosen et al, 2001) - approaches for reducing overall pathogen loading within an agricultural watershed
- Protecting Watersheds from Cryptosporidium in Manure (Finstein, 2004) - summary of the fate of Cryptosporidium and the effectiveness for Cryptosporidium inactivation via different BMPs (e.g., composting, anaerobic digestion, manure slurry storage)
- Fate and Transport of Surface Water Pathogens in Watersheds (AwwaRF report; Davies et al., 2005) - critical review of available research on transport of pathogens in watersheds
- Prioritizing Watershed Pathogen Research (Ferguson et al, 2003) - critical review of available research on transport of pathogens in watersheds
- Pathogen Movement and Survival in Catchments, Groundwaters and Raw Water Storages (CRC, 2004) - series of fact sheets describing related research
- Impacts of Major Point and Non-Point Sources on Raw Water Treatability (AwwaRF report; Pyke et al., 2003) - summarizes the occurrence, sources, and fate of Cryptosporidium in agricultural environments
- Effects of Combined Water Potential and Temperature Stresses on Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts (Walker et al., 2001) - effects of temperature on Cryptosporidium survival
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