26 Ara 2024 Perşembe
Parasites and pathogenic bacteria associated with houseflies and the public health implications in Osogbo, Southwestern Nigeria
Abstract :Houseflies
are known as nuisance pests due to their ubiquitous nature in the environment.
The present study investigates the roles of houseflies as mechanical vectors of
parasites and bacteria in Osogbo, Southwestern Nigeria. The body parts of the
houseflies collected from slaughter slabs, dumping grounds and palm wine spots
were examined for parasitic cysts and bacterial isolates. The bacteria were
isolated using standard bacteriological procedures and the parasites were observed
microscopically. The bacteria isolates were thereafter subjected to antibiotic
sensitivity test using standard protocol.
All the seventy (70) samples examined harbored pathogenic bacteria. The
bacteria isolated include, Salmonella
typhii, Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli, Proteus
mirabilis, Providencia species., Enterobacteraerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
Morganella monganii, Vibrio cholera, Shigella species and Serratia marcescens.
Even though there was variation in diversity of the bacteria across the study
locations, the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The
cyst of Entamoeba histolytica and
eggs of Asacris lumbricoides were
also recovered from few houseflies. Most
of the bacteria isolates showed multiple resistance to antibiotics such as
ampicillin, Cefuroxime and Ceftazidine. The isolation of these multi-drug
resistance bacteria and cysts of pathogenic parasites underscore the need for
constant health education on promotion of environmental sanitation in the study
area
Houseflies,
bacteria, parasite cysts, multidrug resistance, Osogbo, Nigeria