What is it about?
The study evaluated the survival of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) during anaerobic digestion processes in biogas plants. Two distinct biogas plants, loaded with manure and slurry from paratuberculosis‐infected dairy herds, were considered: a single farm-scale plant supplied with manure from a single herd and a large-scale biogas plant, serving a consortium of bovine herds, equipped with a double-digester system. In the paper, different evaluations are applied based on the type of biogas plant.
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Why is it important?
The study arose from the requests of Italian farmers regarding the risk of finding MAP in the final products from biogas plants, which they use as fertilizer. Our data are unable to exclude the presence of MAP in the final products of the biogas plants, especially those based on a single digester, while more advanced technologies, such as plants equipped with two or more fermenters, appear to be more effective at MAP killing.
Perspectives
Biogas production is an emerging technology based on a mesophilic Anaerobic Digestion process, in which manure, slurry and other farming products are used as raw materials and the final digestate product is used as fertilizer and animal bedding. The effects of the process on the survival of animal pathogens have been only partially investigated, and consequently there are rising concerns regarding the possibility of environmental contamination. This risk may be particularly high for micro-organisms that are highly resistant to inactivating environmental agents, such as MAP. The efficiency of MAP inactivation appears to be strongly influenced by the technologies adopted in the plant, as suggested by our study.
Dr Piera Mazzone
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Umbria e delle Marche
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Survival of Mycobacterium avium
subsp. paratuberculosis
in the intermediate and final digestion products of biogas plants, Journal of Applied Microbiology, April 2018, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/jam.13762.
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