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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2005, p. 326-330, Vol. 71, No. 1
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.1.326-330.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effect of Sand and Sawdust Bedding Materials on the Fecal Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Dairy Cows

Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio

Received 24 May 2004/ Accepted 30 August 2004

Farm management practices that reduce the prevalence of food-borne pathogens in live animals are predicted to enhance food safety. To ascertain the potential role of livestock bedding in the ecology and epidemiology of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on farms, the survival of this pathogen in used-sand and used-sawdust dairy cow bedding was determined. Additionally, a longitudinal study of mature dairy cattle housed on 20 commercial dairy farms was conducted to compare the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle bedded on sand to that in cattle bedded on sawdust. E. coli O157:H7 persisted at higher concentrations in used-sawdust bedding than in used-sand bedding. The overall average herd level prevalence (3.1 versus 1.4%) and the number of sample days yielding any tests of feces positive for E. coli O157:H7 (22 of 60 days versus 13 of 60 days) were higher in sawdust-bedded herds. The choice of bedding material used to house mature dairy cows may impact the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 on dairy farms.

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