Browsing by Subject "swine"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Pigs, Profit, Planet: North Carolina Farmers’ Perspectives on Waste Lagoon Conversion
    (2011-12) Karan, Ashlyn
    It has been documented that pollution from North Carolina hog waste lagoons contaminates drinking water, lowers air quality, and devastates North Carolina’s commercial and recreational fishing and tourist industries. The North Carolina state legislature has offered swine farmers a 90% cost-share grant to convert their lagoons to “Environmentally Superior Technologies (EST),” yet only 11 of 2,200 farms have applied for the cost-share program. This paper sheds light on why hog farmers are not converting their lagoons to EST, finding that the biggest barriers to the adoption of EST are cost and complex operation requirements. Background information, literature, and interviews with North Carolina swine farmers are used to develop a survey that can be applied on a larger scale to gain a deeper understanding of the potential for and pitfalls of retrofitting hog farms in North Carolina.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Social Context of Environmental Exposures: an Application to Swine CAFO Air Effluent and Pregnancy Outcomes in North Carolina
    (2012) Tosiano, Melissa Ann

    Compared to full weight infants, low birth weight infants are at greater risk for short and long term health consequences. Maternal exposure to air pollution is associated with low birth weight, although these studies did not extend to rural sources of air pollution[1]. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of maternal exposure to swine CAFO air emissions with birth weight. Information on all North Carolina births from 2004-2008 was extracted from the NCDBR. Maternal exposure to swine CAFO air emissions were estimated using NC CAFO water release permitting in a geographic information system. Using ordinary least squares regression modeling, this study implicates a statistically, but not clinically significant association with exposure to swine CAFO emissions and a decrease in birth weight. As the metric of estimated maternal exposure to swine CAFO air emissions became more refined (binary< interaction< exponential decay) the association between swine CAFO exposure and decreased birth weight was increased. Prior studies have found associations between swine CAFOs and poor health in proximate communities, but none have addressed birth weight [2-8]. The results of this research indicate rural sources of air pollution could potentially adversely impact birth outcomes of especially sensitive mothers.

  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Use of Bioaerosol Sampling for Airborne Virus Surveillance in Swine Production Facilities: A Mini Review.
    (Front Vet Sci, 2017) Anderson, Benjamin D; Lednicky, John A; Torremorell, Montserrat; Gray, Gregory C
    Modern swine production facilities typically house dense populations of pigs and may harbor a variety of potentially zoonotic viruses that can pass from one pig generation to another and periodically infect human caretakers. Bioaerosol sampling is a common technique that has been used to conduct microbial risk assessments in swine production, and other similar settings, for a number of years. However, much of this work seems to have been focused on the detection of non-viral microbial agents (i.e., bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, etc.), and efforts to detect viral aerosols in pig farms seem sparse. Data generated by such studies would be particularly useful for assessments of virus transmission and ecology. Here, we summarize the results of a literature review conducted to identify published articles related to bioaerosol generation and detection within swine production facilities, with a focus on airborne viruses. We identified 73 scientific reports, published between 1991 and 2017, which were included in this review. Of these, 19 (26.7%) used sampling methodology for the detection of viruses. Our findings show that bioaerosol sampling methodologies in swine production settings have predominately focused on the detection of bacteria and fungi, with no apparent standardization between different approaches. Information, specifically regarding virus aerosol burden in swine production settings, appears to be limited. However, the number of viral aerosol studies has markedly increased in the past 5 years. With the advent of new sampling technologies and improved diagnostics, viral bioaerosol sampling could be a promising way to conduct non-invasive viral surveillance among swine farms.