Bacterial Contamination of Door Handles of Commercial Buses in Umuahia Metropolis Abia State

Authors

  • Emmanuel Onwubiko Nwankwo Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, P. M. B 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
  • Ebubechi Uloma Okey-kalu Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, P. M. B 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
  • Favour Amuche Eze Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, P. M. B 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53848/ssstj.v10i1.414

Keywords:

Bacterial contamination, Commercial buses door handles, Antibiogram

Abstract

Commercial vehicles are all kinds of vehicles used to transport goods and people. Microbiological investigationof publicly touchable surfaces has become an interest to researchers because surfaces that are contaminated can function as reservoir of potential pathogens. This study was carried out to determine the levels of bacterialcontamination on the surfaces of two door handles on public buses within Umuahia metropolis. A total of 70samples, 35 each from the passengers and driver’s door handles surface were collected and analyzed. The analysisinvolved bacterial isolation and identification of organisms by standard microbiological procedures. Theprevalence and bacteria count were carried out. The antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the isolates were done usingthe disc diffusion method. A total number of 73 bacterial organisms were isolated. The following potentialpathogenic bacteria were observed; Staphylococcus aureus (6.8%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (5.5%),Streptococcus faecalis (2.7%), Escherichia coli (6.8%), Klebsiella spp. (5.5%), Enterobacter spp. (4.1%), Pseudomonasaeruginosa (17.8%), Proteus spp. (23.3%), Micrococcus spp. (6.8%) and Bacillus spp. (20.5%). Ofloxacin, Pefloxacinand Gentamicin are effective and exhibited encouraging results while Ampicillin and Trimethoprim were resistant to most isolates. The result actually shows that the door handles of motor vehicle used for public transportationcan be a significant reservoir for spreading potential pathogenic microorganisms.

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Published

2022-12-26

How to Cite

Nwankwo, E. O. ., Okey-kalu, E. U. ., & Eze, F. A. . (2022). Bacterial Contamination of Door Handles of Commercial Buses in Umuahia Metropolis Abia State. Suan Sunandha Science and Technology Journal, 10(1), 54–61. https://doi.org/10.53848/ssstj.v10i1.414

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Research Articles