Aim: Contracting infectious diseases from microbial contaminated toilet door handles is a potential threat to public health and safety. Therefore we performed microbiological screening of toilet door handles in twelve рublic toilets on Baze University campus for bacterial contamination. Methodology and Results: Biochemical analysis of bacterial isolates from entrance toilet door handles in six building blocks on Baze University camрus, revealed a general contamination by mainly seven bacterial species associated with human gut and skin flora in order of decreasing frequency as follows: Staphylococcus aureus 42.9%; Salmonella typhimurium 21.4%; Escherichia coli 14.3%; Pseudomonas aeruginosa 9.5%; Proteus mirablis 4.8%; Klebsiella oxytoca 4.8%; and Klebsiella pneumoniae with 2.3% prevalence. Results of the total aerobic mesophillic count showed A-Block with the highest amount of contamination-768*10 5 CFU/ml, while B-Block had the least amount of bacterial contamination-473*10 5 CFU/ml. The levels of bacterial contamination in the other blocks were as follows: C-Block-710*10 5 CFU/ml, D-Block-695*10 5 CFU/ml, E-Block-567*10 5 CFU/ml, and F-Block-743*10 5 CFU/ml. Conclusion: Overall of the seven isolated bacterial sрecies five were mainly gut-associated bacteria, suggesting feacal contamination. The others were skin-associated bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), suggesting routine touch by hands, and soil-associated bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) suggesting contamination from settling dust рarticles. This study is relevant for public health and safety, as its findings reveal the presence of bacterial pathogens on toilet door handles, which is vital in preventing the spread of infectious disease.
Abstract-Diseases caused by contaminated water consumption and poor hygiene are among the leading cause of death in children, the elderly and people with compromised immune system. The present study aims to assess the drinking water quality of some selected drinking water sources in the chosen study area using water quality index (WQI). Samples of drinking waters were collected from four different sources-river, sachet (packaged), borehole and well in Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria for physicochemical and bacteriological analyses using standard methods. With the exception of pH, river water had the highest content of all the physicochemical parameters examined. Some of the physicochemical parameters such as temperature and pH determined in this study were mostly within the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. The bacteriological analyses revealed that the highest total viable counts of 1.54 (0.12) x 10 2 (cfu/ml) were obtained in the river sample while the least values of 0.03 (0.00) x 10 2 (cfu/ml) were obtained in the sachet water. Three bacterial isolates of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp and Aeromonas spp were isolated from well water while Pseudomonas spp and Proteus spp were isolated from borehole water. All other bacteria were isolated from the river. The study demonstrates that the safest drinking water source in Idu district, Jabi, Abuja is the sachet/packaged water while the least safe is the river water due to the presence of significant opportunistic pathogens. The results of this study are beneficial for water quality management and could be used for low-cost effective water quality assessment in Jabi.
Baobab (Adansonia digitata) leaves are usually used in dry form in the preparation of a soup known as 'miyan kuka' in Northern Nigeria. The leaves are believed to have nutritional and medicinal benefits and have been used for those purposes in Africa and Asia. However there has been limited research on the detailed constituents of the dry leaves. In this study, phytochemical, elemental and proximate analyses of stored, sun and shade-dried baobab leaves were conducted. The results revealed a great variation in the nutritional contents of the leaves. The study reveals that the leaves are rich in phytochemicals such as glycosides, saponins, steroids and flavonoids while alkaloids, tannins and resins are absent. Also, they are important source of minerals such as zinc, copper, iron and manganese. In addition, they are rich in fibre, crude protein, nitrogen and ash. Contrasting responses were obtained in the samples studied. The implications of these responses are discussed in relation to crop yield.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.