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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Livestock Nutrient Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #115659
Title: EFFECTS OF AEROSOLIZED ENDOTOXIN IN FEEDYARD DUST ON WEANLING GOATS

Author
item Purdy, Charles
item STRAUS, D - TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
item CHIRASE, N - TAES, AMARILLO, TX
item PARKER, D - WEST TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
item AYERS, J - TAMU VET DIAGNOSTIC LAB
item HOOVER, M - LOVELACE RESP RES INST

Submitted to: Small Ruminant Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/2/2002
Publication Date: 8/6/2002
Citation: Purdy, C. W., Straus, D. C., Chirase, N., Parker, D. B., Ayers, J. R., Hoover, M. D. Effects of aerosolized endotoxin in feedyard dust on weanling goats. Small Ruminant Research. 2002. v. 46. p. 133-147.

Interpretive Summary: The effect of inhaled feedyard dust/endotoxin (ET) on the health of ruminants is unknown. Feedyard dust contains a high concentration of ET which are derived from the outer-cell-wall of all Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria are normal inhabitants of manure and when manure dries and it is walked on it turns to dust. It was determined that dust containing ET when inhaled for 4 hrs by goats caused the following: 1) mean rectal temperature to increase, 2) mean total white blood cells (WBC) to increase, and 3) mean total neutrophils to increase. The rectal temperature increases occurred between 4 and 12 hrs, and the increase in total WBC and neutrophils occurred 8 to 12 hrs after the dust challenge. It was also determined that it was the ET part of the dust and not the microbes that caused the significant increases in the dust treated goats compared to the control goats. Four-thousand-five-hundred g of feedyard dust was divided into three equal samples; sample one was autoclaved for 15 min (AD dust), sample two was oven-heated at 180**o C for 6 hrs (OH dust), and sample three was left untreated (UT dust). The UT dust contained 26.9 micrograms ET/g of dust and viable bacteria and fungi, AD dust contained 13.3 micrograms ET/g of dust and no viable microbes, and the OH dust contained 0.0173 micrograms ET/g of dust and no microbes. Goats treated 4 hrs with either the AU dust or the UT dust increased in rectal temperature, total WBC, and neutrophils, however, the OH dust did not cause the increases. Conclusion: only the ET part of the dust caused the increases in goat rectal temperatures, total WBCs, and neutrophils, and not the viable microbes.

Technical Abstract: Two endotoxin (ET)/dust experiments are reported. Experiment one, weanling female Spanish goats (n=36) were randomly allotted to 4 treatment groups (n=9/group). Principals were exposed to twenty-two 4-hr dust treatments in a closed tent. Four hr after the 1st dust treatment, the mean rectal temperatures of the two principal groups were significantly (P