The purpose of this project is to develop composting methods that can be applied on farms or at other sites to ensure the biocontainment of infected poultry or livestock carcasses and their manure in the event of a bioterrorism attack employing foreign animal disease viruses. The methods developed in this project will be efficient at destroying viruses and degrading carcasses to earth-like material. Methods will also be developed to detect and identify volatile organic compounds contained in off-gases produced during composting. An assessment will then be made of the key chemical categories and specific compounds in the gases released. Studies on the gases released and on the breakdown of animal DNA will aim to determine whether this information could be used to predict the overall safety of the compost for disposal on land. Standards will also be developed to determine virus survival under defined composting conditions.