Assessment of bioaerosols in swine barns by filtration and impaction

Bioaerosol concentrations inside one naturally ventilated and one mechanically ventilated swine finishing barn were assessed by sampling air using membrane filtration and impaction (six-stage Andersen sampler), and assayed by culture method. The barns, located on the same commercial farm in northeast Kansas, did not show any significant difference (p > 0.05) in concentrations of total and respirable airborne microorganisms. The overall mean total concentrations inside the two barns were 6.6 x 10(4) colony forming units (CFU)/m3 (SD = 3.8 x 10(4) CFU/m3 as measured by filtration and 8.6 x 10(4) CFU/m3 (SD = 5.1 x 10(4) CFU/m3) by impaction. The overall mean respirable concentrations were 9.0 x 10(3) CFU/m3 (SD = 4.1 x 10(3) CFU/m3) measured by filtration and 2.8 x 10(4) CFU/m3 (SD = 2.2 x 10(4) CFU/m3) by impaction. Total and respirable CFU concentrations measured by impaction were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that by filtration. The persistent strains of microorganisms were various species of the following genera: Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Listeria, Enterococcus, Nocardia, Lactobacillus, and Penicillium. It appears that filtration sampling can be used for a qualitative survey of bioaerosols in swine barns while the Andersen sampler is suitable for both quantitative and qualitative assessments.