Microbial Carriage of Cockroaches in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria

Author(s): Nduke Suzan. J, Obiekezie Smart. O, Chuku Aleruchi & Orole Olukayode. O

Abstract

This study was carried out to isolate and identify bacterial and fungal pathogens of medical importance on the external surfaces and alimentary tracts of cockroaches collected from different locations in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. A total of 300 cockroaches were sampled and screened for bacterial and fungal carriage. Ninebacterial genera isolated were Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Citrobacter, Escherichia, Salmonella, Proteus, Staphylococcus, Bacillus and Enterococcus, while 6 fungal genera were isolated from the study. Percentage occurrence of pathogens on the body surfaces and alimentary tract of cockroaches were found to be statistically significant at Tukey HSD test P>0.05. Pseudomonas aeruginosa obtained the highest load (63.1%) in the alimentary tract of cockroaches, while Staphylococcus aureus (0.5%) was least. Mucorpucillus obtained the highest percentage occurrence of 62.7% on the body surfaces of cockroaches, while Saccharomyces cerevisae with 11.9% was least. The antibiotic susceptibility analysis showed that streptomycin had the best inhibitory activity against bacterial isolates, while all the fungal isolates were susceptible to Terbinafine Hydrochloride. The results showed that cockroaches were carriers of medically important bacteria and fungi, and thus may spread multiple drug resistant species which can threaten the health of individuals and cause serious diseases.

Keywords: Cockroaches, Antibiotics, Resistance, Genera.

Please cite this article as: Nduke Suzan. J, Obiekezie Smart. O, Chuku Aleruchi & Orole Olukayode. O (2018). Microbial Carriage of Cockroaches in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. International Journal of Recent Research and Applied Studies, 5, 8(1), 1-8.