Dispersal and Risk Factors for Airborne Escherichia coli in the Proximity to Beef Cattle Feedlots

Abstract

California Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement (LGMA) established food safety metrics with guidance recommendations of 366 m (1,200 feet) and 1,609 m (1 mile) distances between production fields of leafy greens and a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) containing >1,000 and >80,000 head of cattle, respectively. This study evaluated the effect of these distance metrics and environmental factors on the occurrence of airborne Escherichia coli in proximity to seven commercial beef cattle feedlots located in Imperial Valley, California. A total of 168 air samples were collected from seven beef cattle feedlots during March and April 2020, which were the months implicated in the 2018 Yuma Arizona lettuce outbreak of E. coli O157:H7. The distance between air sampling sites and the edge of the feedlot ranged from ∼0 to ∼2,200 m (∼1.3 mile), with each sample comprised of 1,000 L of processed air taken at a 1.2 m elevation over a 10-minute duration. E. coli colonies were enumerated on CHROMagar ECC selective agar and confirmed with conventional PCR. Meteorological data (air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity) were collected in situ. The prevalence and mean concentration of E. coli were 6.55% (11/168) and 0.09 CFU per 1,000 L of air, with positive samples limited to within 37 m (120 ft) of the feedlot. Based on logistic regression, the odds of airborne E. coli detection were associated with little to no wind and close proximity to a feedlot. This pilot study found limited dispersal of airborne E. coli in proximity to commercial feedlots in Imperial Valley, with light-to-no wind and proximity within 37 m of a feedlot significant factor-associated airborne E. coli in this produce-growing region of California.

Keywords

• Beef cattle feedlot
• Distance
• E. coli
• Wind direction
• Wind speed