ABSTRACT

This research was carried out to evaluate the virulence and antibiotic resistance of Klebsiella pneumonia in river system. Standard bacteriological methods were used to enumerate the total bacterial count of the river water using pour plate methods. The bacterial isolates were characterized and identified using morphological and biochemical methods and sugar fermentation test. The percentage distribution and frequency of the isolates were evaluated using statistical method. From the results, the downstream possess the highest bacterial colony count of 0.48 x 10³ cfu/ml. While the colony count in upstream was 0.46 x 10³ cfu/ml.  There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the bacterial count for upstream and downstream. Following the cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics of bacteria from river water samples, the result revealed that four species of Klebsiella were obtained. They all showed some level of pathogenicity using the pathogenic virulence test and also they were a greater resistance from the antibiotic test. The multiple antibiotic resistant index test showed that the level of resistance index of the isolates were between 0.5 to 0.6 as against World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 0.2. Hence, appropriate treatment processes should be utilized before its use in any recreational activity.