AWARDS | Innovation Grants2005 - 2006 RECIPIENT Food Animal Transport: A Potential Source of Community Exposures to Health Hazards from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
Abstract The overall goal of this project is to test the hypothesis that the transportation of factory farmed animals in open crates or pens can expose communities to health hazards associated with the current methods of industrial food animal production. Specifically, we propose to examine this as a novel route of exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria generated by the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). This project is highly innovative and has a strong likelihood of influencing public opinion and policy regarding the current practices in industrial animal production (IAP). Moreover, this project connects two major concerns identified by CLF: inhumane practices in concentrated animal feeding operations and community exposures to health risks. This is because the stress of current methods of transport is documented to increase shedding of pathogens by chickens, beef cattle, and pigs during transport. We focus on poultry in this study, but the results are likely to be applicable to assessing the human health risks of transport of other food animals in open cages.
Anyone who has ever driven behind one of these trucks is aware that they are a source of nuisance releases, including feathers, dirt, and fecal material. This issue has received attention in terms of cross-contamination of animals during the transportation process and the implications of this for food safety. However, the potential for these uncontrolled releases to expose the public to antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) has never been examined. The issue has national implications, but is particularly important for persons traveling in Delmarva, which is a major poultry producing region in the US as well as a popular vacation/tourism destination for the mid-Atlantic region.
Because this is the first study of its kind, the goal of this innovation project is to generate a publishable pilot study that can be used as the foundation for a full-scale study on the releases of bacteria and antibiotic-resistant bacteria via the transport of food animals. To accomplish this, we propose to undertake a feasibility study and then conduct a field study.
Principal Investigator:
Ellen Silbergeld, PhD, Professor, Department of Environmental Health
Sciences, JHSPH | 
