Presence Of Multi Drug Resistant Coliform Bacteria Isolated From Biofilm Of Sachet And Borehole Waters Sold In Abakaliki Metropolis Ebonyi State Nigeria.

ABSTRACT This study investigated the presence of multi drug resistant coliform bacteria from biofilm of sachet and borehole waters sold in Abakaliki metropolis in Ebonyi State Nigeria. Five hundred 500 samples of water comprising 250 each from selected brand of sachet water retailers and borehole water dispensers from seven locations were sampled for the detection of coliform bacteria from biofilm and to determine their antimicrobial susceptibility using commercially prepared antibiotic discs. Results revealed a high faecal contamination level in sachet waters as Gospel 36 72 Aqua Rapha 30 60 and Bejoy 18 36 were the highest among the sachet water brands examined with Nene and Rock Tama sachet water brands having the lowest contamination level of 612 and 1326 respectively. Borehole samples results revealed that Aboffia had 27 76.93 samples contaminated with faecal bacteria while Azugwu 11 28.5 Azuiyiokwu 18 50 Azuiyiudene 2980 Kpirikpiri 24 66.63 PrescoNtezi 1646.15 and Udensi 22 61.54. Escherichia coli Enterobacter spp and Klebsiella spp were the major contaminants of both sachet and borehole water samples. The bacteria isolates from biofilm of sachet and borehole waters were susceptible to only three of the antibiotics used namely nitrofurantoin amoxycilin and ampicillin. The bacteria were completely resistant to ciprofloxacin tetracycline norbactinnorfloxacin ofloxacin cefuroxime and gentamicin. This showed that they exhibit multi-drug resistance pattern which is a common feature of medically important biofilm bacteria. We therefore report the presence of multi-drug resistant coliform bacteria from biofilm of sachet and borehole waters sold in Abakaliki metropolis Ebonyi State Nigeria.