EFFECT OF COMPOSTING POULTRY CARCASSES ON SURVIVAL OF EXOTIC AVIAN VIRUSES - HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA (HPAI) VIRUS AND ADENOVIRUS OF EGG DROP SYNDROME-76

Eight-week-old chickens were inoculated with one of two exotic viruses to determine the effect of composting on virus survival. Group 1 chic kens were inoculated with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) vir us via the caudal thoracic air sac. Group 2 chickens were inoculated w ith the adenovirus that causes egg drop syndrome-76 (EDS-76) by the or al route. Five days after inoculation, lung, trachea, and air sacs for HPAI and spleen, cecal tonsils, and bursa of Fabricius for EDS-76 wer e collected and composted with poultry carcasses. At the end of the fi rst 10 days of composting, virus-isolation efforts showed that the HPA I virus had been inactivated, and only 1 of 20 tissue samples yielded the adenovirus of EDS-76. The viruses of HPAI and EDS-76 were complete ly inactivated at the end of the second 10-day period of the two-stage composting process. Control tissues collected at necropsy and frozen at -70 C for virus isolation were all positive for virus.