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ABSTRACT
Water quality in rivers around the world has degenerated in recent years. Contamination of water with bacterial pathogens is of public health concern and exposure to waterborne bacterial pathogens often occurs through ingestion or inhalation. Typhoid fever, dysentery and diarrhea are examples of waterborne diseases resulting from the intake of contaminated water. Competent management of deteriorating water bodies can be achieved by determining the sources of fecal pollution. Resourceful techniques for discrimination of the sources of fecal coliform bacteria in surface water have recently been developed, including the use of river water to facilitate fecal indicator monitoring, identification of sources of fecal contamination and utilizing relevant management practices to maintain water quality. This study was conducted to utilize microbial source tracking (MST) techniques for the determination of the sources of fecal pollution based on a water quality investigation of the coliform count point of Ikpoba River. The microorganisms isolated in this study are Klebsiella sp, Citrobacter sp, Salmonella sp, and Escherichia coli. An MST library based antibiotic resistance analysis and multiple antibiotics resistance indices were applied, and the obtained results were analyzed statistically. Among isolates present in the water samples collected from the river, most showed intrinsic, high or moderate resistance to antibiotics, aside from Gentamycin which was the most effective antibiotics used in this study. The multiple antibiotic resistant index of the isolates in this study was at the range of 0.5 to 0.8 which was higher than 0.2 as recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). These findings indicated that the Ikpoba River is subjected to stress from anthropogenic activities and runoff contaminated with agricultural and human fecal contamination. The sources of fecal pollution identified in this study may facilitate the monitoring and management of the Ikpoba River.
