In June 2007, a demonstration of the Microbially Assisted Regeneration System (MARS) was conducted at Bingham County’s Rattlesnake Landfill Site east of Firth, Idaho.

Unquestionably, the most significant outcome to emerge from this trial was the destruction of human, animal and plant pathogens.

Tests showed the composted remains were negative for the presence of E. Coli O157:H7, Salmonella aureus, antibiotic pharmaceuticals, cresols, aldehydes and a host of other pathogens. Zoonosis, or the transfer of infectious disease from non-human animals to humans, is real.

Some of the best minds in medical research are scratching for answers. Constraints of space and time allow only one reference out of many which might be cited.

There are undoubtedly many zoonoses lurking in nature that have the potential to cause serious public health consequences if introduced into humans. This is, in fact, what may be our greatest concern about zoonoses – not the diseases that we know and what they are capable of causing, but the hidden potential of what diseases might arise in the future.

Examples that foster our concern include the emergence of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) from nonhuman primates, which has developed into one of the most significant infectious disease threats in the world today, and the crossing of the species barrier of certain influenza virus strains that have led to large human pandemics.

Diseases such as AIDS and influenza have their origins as zoonoses, but they subsequently adapted to human-to-human transmission. For example, one disease which our MARS testing showed can be eliminated from livestock manure and livestock carcasses through composting is E. coli O157:H7.

This is a specific serotype of E. coli that causes watery diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremia syndrome (HUS) in humans. HUS is a potentially life-threatening condition characterized by hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and renal failure. It most commonly occurs following infection in children.

Cattle have been implicated as the most important source of E. coli O157:H7. Prevalence estimates vary, but it appears that although a substantial percentage of both dairy herds and beef feedlots have some infected animals, the number of infected animals at any one time is relatively low.

E. coli O157:H7 was first isolated in 1982 and gained prominence because of a number of well-publicized outbreaks associated with undercooked, fast-food hamburgers. But other foods have also been incriminated, including raw potatoes, raw milk, unpasteurized fruit juices and apple cider, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and salads (at least 11 outbreaks in the U.S. since 1995).

There is also evidence for waterborne infection via simply swimming in a contaminated lake or consumption of contaminated water. In 1999, nearly 1,000 people were infected, and at least two people died, after consuming water at a county fair in upstate New York.

The groundwater well at the fair was thought to have been contaminated by manure run-off from a cattle exhibit barn after a heavy rainfall and the unchlorinated water was used by vendors to make beverages and ice. (Some of these people were also infected with C. jejuni.)

A survey of pigs in Japan revealed the same level of infection with O157:H7 in pigs as in cattle, and the presence of O157:H7 in the U.S. swine population has also been demonstrated recently. Finally, it also appears that O157:H7 strains can also persist in the intestinal tract of pigs, as well as cattle.

This review of a single zoonotic disease found in livestock and their manure – E. coli O157:H7 – which can pass back and forth between animals and humans presents an alarming scene. We at BERRI believe composting can slow down or stop the course.

The MARS process opens a way. By maintaining temperatures in the thermophilic range, up to 170°F for a period of at least 45 days, the zoonotic diseases are killed. This pasteurizing effect during MARS composting stops the progress of the zoonotic course and is a promising method to break the cycle of zoonotic diseases. ANM

References omitted but are available upon request at editor@progressivedairy.com