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Evolution of the Environmental Contamination by Thermophilic Fungi in a Turkey Confinement House in France

S.L. Fulleringer^*, D. Seguin, S. Warin, A. Bezille, C. Desterque, P. Arné^*, R. Chermette^*, S. Bretagne^*, and J. Guillot^*,1

^* INRA, AFSSA, ENVA, UPVM, UMR 956 Biologie Moléculaire et Immunologie Parasitaires et Fongiques, École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France; Cabinet Vétérinaire Bailleul-Séguin, 45270 Quiers sur Bézonde, France; and Service de Parasitologie, Faculté de Médecine de Créteil, Hôpital Henri Mondor (AP-HP), 94010 Créteil, France

¹ Corresponding author: jguillot{at}vet-alfort.fr

Fungal species constitute a major part of environmental contaminants in facilities where animals are housed. The present investigation was aimed at describing the relative abundances of fungal species and their concentrations in a turkey confinement house in France. Fungal cultures from poultry feed, litter, and air were undertaken every week throughout the 16-wk period of breeding. The incubation temperature of 40°C was selected to isolate thermophilic fungal species (especially Aspergillus spp. and Candida albicans) that are potentially pathogenic for birds. The 2 species Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus were recovered at a mean of 10.5 and 37.0 cfu/m³ of air sampled, respectively. Individual samplings yielded concentrations of up to 150.0 cfu/m³ for A. flavus in the first weeks of the investigation. Other fungal species were recovered at a mean of 18.9 cfu/m³ (maximum 36.3 cfu/m³) in the air. The yeast C. albicans was first detected at wk 4 from litter samples and at wk 7 from poultry feed. Densities of C. albicans remained very high in litter samples (63.2 cfu/g) even after new litter was added at wk 10. To analyze the genetic polymorphism of A. fumigatus, the most pathogenic mold in birds, a total number of 198 isolates (134 from air, 34 from litter, and 30 from feed samples) were genotyped using 2 polymorphic microsatellite markers. More than half (42 out of 73, 57.5%) of the genotypes were detected only once. This finding suggests that the contamination of the breeding environment is not due to a single source and confirms the very high genetic diversity of environmental A. fumigatus isolates. As during the study period, no outbreak of fungal infections occurred; the levels of fungal contaminations reported here do not seem sufficient, at least alone, to trigger fungal infections.

Key Words: fungi • contamination • Aspergillus • Candida • environment

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