Live Chickens in Transport May Pose Danger to Humans

BALTIMORE — Driving behind the trucks transporting broiler chickens from farm to slaughterhouse provides potential human exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from intensively raised poultry, according to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers. They found increased levels of pathogenic bacteria, both susceptible and drug-resistant, on surfaces and in the air inside cars traveling behind trucks that carry broiler chickens.

This study was reportedly the first to look at exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from the transportation of poultry. The findings are published in the first issue of the Journal of Infection and Public Health.

Broiler chickens are typically transported in open crates on flatbed trucks with no effective barrier to prevent release of pathogens into the environment. Such crates do become contaminated with feces and bacteria.

Here’s how the study was conducted. Air and surface samples from cars driving two to three car lengths behind the poultry trucks for a distance of 17 miles were collected by Dr. Ana M. Rule, PhD, a research associate in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, along with professor Ellen K. Silbergeld, PhD, and Sean L. Evans. The cars were driven with both air conditioners and fans turned off and with the windows fully opened.

Air samples collected inside the cars, showed increased concentrations of bacteria (including antibiotic-resistant strains) that could be inhaled. The same bacteria were also found deposited on a soda can inside the car and on the outside door handle, where they could potentially be touched.

Source: MeatPoultry.com