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It is well known that anytime there are birds infected with pathogenic organisms in a poultry area, these microorganisms are shed in some way and most of them can be recovered from room surfaces or from the air. A high efficiency, portable electrostatic sampling device (ESD) was designed for recovering low levels of bioaerosols in poultry spaces. The ESD creates a strong electrostatic field close to a grounded plate causing bioaerosols near the device to be charged and pulled onto the plate giving the effect of a medium volume air sampler without the need for a mechanical fan. Design and operation of the ESD are described. Typical sampling results for the ESD, a settling plate and an impaction air sampler are shown for airborne bacteria collected at a poultry house exhaust outlet. The ESD easily collected total bacteria and enterobacteriaceae within a few minutes. Sample times of 15 hrs or longer are possible. Preliminary sampling tests with the ESD for plant and poultry viruses have already shown that it can recover a sufficient amount of airborne virus for rapid RT-PCR identification. The small, lightweight ESD with its sealed components except for the battery pack, and its lack of moving parts, allowed for easy disinfection between uses, and it gave very consistent results. Potential applications for the ESD range from routine monitoring of poultry, livestock, and plant areas to epidemiology, processing areas, hospitals, monitoring of public areas for potential bioterrorism attack, and routine air quality surveys in office areas, schools, etc.