Scat contents of the spotted-tailed quoll Dasyurus maculatus in the New England gorges, north-eastern New South Wales

In 1313 scats of the spotted-tailed quoll Dasyurus maculatus, collected over 5 years from the gorge country of north-eastern New South Wales, the most frequent and abundant items were derived from mammals and a restricted set of insect orders. These quolls also ate river-associated items: waterbirds, eels, crayfish, aquatic molluscs and even frogs. Macropods contributed most of the mammal items, with possums, gliders and rodents also being common. Some food, particularly from macropods and lagomorphs, had been scavenged (as shown by fly larvae). The most frequent invertebrates were three orders of generally large insects Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Orthoptera, which were most frequent in summer and almost absent in winter scats. Monthly mean numbers of rodent and small dasyurid items per scat were inversely related to these large insects in scats. The numbers of reptile items were inversely related to the numbers of mammal (especially arboreal and small terrestrial mammal) items per scat, thus types of items interacted in their occurrences in monthly scat samples. Frequencies of most vertebrate items showed no seasonal, but much year-to-year, variation. This quoll population ate four main types of items, each requiring different skills to obtain: they hunted arboreal marsupials (possibly up trees), terrestrial small mammals and reptiles (on the ground), and seasonally available large insects (on trees or the ground), and scavenged carcases, mostly of large mammals but also birds and fishes (wherever they could find them).

Mechanically Ventilated Broiler Sheds: a Possible Source of Aerosolized Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Escherichia coli.

This study assessed the levels of two key pathogens, Salmonella and Campylobacter, along with the indicator organism Escherichia coli in aerosols within and outside poultry sheds. The study ranged over a 3-year period on four poultry farms and consisted of six trials across the boiler production cycle of around 55 days. Weekly testing of litter and aerosols was carried out through the cycle. A key point that emerged is that the levels of airborne bacteria are linked to the levels of these bacteria in litter. This hypothesis was demonstrated by E. coli. The typical levels of E. coli in litter were similar to 10(8) CFU g(-1) and, as a consequence, were in the range of 10(2) to 10(4) CFU m(-3) in aerosols, both inside and outside the shed. The external levels were always lower than the internal levels. Salmonella was only present intermittently in litter and at lower levels (10(3) to 10(5) most probable number [MPN] g(-1)) and consequently present only intermittently and at low levels in air inside (range of 0.65 to 4.4 MPN m(-3)) and once outside (2.3 MPN m(-3)). The Salmonella serovars isolated in litter were generally also isolated from aerosols and dust, with the Salmonella serovars Chester and Sofia being the dominant serovars across these interfaces. Campylobacter was detected late in the production cycle, in litter at levels of around 107 MPN g(-1). Campylobacter was detected only once inside the shed and then at low levels of 2.2 MPN m(-3). Thus, the public health risk from these organisms in poultry environments via the aerosol pathway is minimal.

Presence and incidence of food-borne pathogens in Australian chicken litter.

1. Litter samples were collected at the end of the production cycle from spread litter in a single shed from each of 28 farms distributed across the three Eastern seaboard States of Australia. 2. The geometric mean for Salmonella was 44 Most Probable Number (MPN)/g for the 20 positive samples. Five samples were between 100 and 1000 MPN/g and one at 105 MPN/g, indicating a range of factors are contributing to these varying loads of this organism in litter. 3. The geometric mean for Campylobacter was 30 MPN/g for the 10 positive samples, with 7 of these samples being 100 MPN/g. The low prevalence and incidence of Campylobacter were possibly due to the rapid die-off of this organism. 4. E. coli values were markedly higher than the two key pathogens (geometric mean 20 x 105 colony forming units (cfu)/g) with overall values being more or less within the same range across all samples in the trial, suggesting a uniform contribution pattern of these organisms in litter. 5. Listeria monocytogenes was absent in all samples and this organism appears not to be an issue in litter. 6. The dominant (70% of the isolates) Salmonella serovar was S. Sofia (a common serovar isolated from chickens in Australia) and was isolated across all regions. Other major serovars were S. Virchow and S. Chester (at 10%) and S. Bovismorbificans and S. Infantis (at 8%) with these serovars demonstrating a spatial distribution across the major regions tested. 7. There is potential to re-use litter in the environment depending on end use and the support of relevant application practices and guidelines.