Investigation on mycoflora of poultry breeding houses’ air and studying the efficacy of spraying and fumigation on inactivating the airspora

BACKGROUND: A common concern of the poultry industryis the presence of fungal pathogens in the birds’ environment,which may constitute a considerable health hazard to the birds,farmers, and those living in proximity of the farm. OBJECTIVES:The aims of this study were to assess the mycoflora inthe indoor and outdoor environments of poultry breeding housesand studying the efficacy of disinfection methods, includingspraying and fumigation, on reducing airspora concentration.METHODS: Indoor air of 12 poultry houses were sampled byexposing Petri dishes containing Sabouraud’s glucose agar afterremoval of old litter, spraying with disinfectant solutions,and fumigation with formalin plus permanganate. The plateswere incubated at 30 °C for seven days and fungi were countedand identified microscopically and macroscopically accordingto standard mycological methods. RESULTS: A total of 182 and181 fungal colonies were recovered from indoor and outdoorair of poultry houses, respectively. Candida (30.2%) and Aspergillus(26.9%) species were the most common yeast andmold in the indoor, respectively, whereas Alternaria (37.6%)and Candida (19.3%) species were the most predominant fungiin the outdoor air of poultry houses. Disinfection of the poultryhouses using spraying and fumigation methods led to a 38.1%and 75% reduction in airspora concentration (p<0.05), respectively.CONCLUSIONS: Based on the findings of the presentstudy, Candida spp and Alternaria spp had the highest indoorand outdoor concentrations in poultry breeding houses’ air, respectively,and fumigation was the most efficient method inreducing airspora.

Keywords:

airspora , Candida , fumigation , mycoflora , poultry house