Epidemiology of infection by nontuberculous mycobacteria. VIII. Absence of mycobacteria in chicken litter.
Overlap in the geographic distributions of (1) higher frequencies of persons reacting to antigens prepared from the Mycobacterium avium, M. intracellulare, and M. scrofulaceum (MAIS) group; (2) higher frequencies of isolation from natural waters and soils; (3) higher densities of farms producing broilers (chicken) in the southeastern United States raises the question of whether MAIS organisms occur abundantly in chicken litter (pine bark shavings containing avian fecal material) and whether litter may be a potential source of animal or human infection through its subsequent use as a fertilizer or feed supplement. We show here that potentially pathogenic mycobacteria were seldom recovered from chicken litter containing avian fecal material. Further, litter appears bactericidal to these organisms in that less than 1% of cells inoculated survived more than 6 wk, probably because of the high pH of litters.