PREVALENCE OF AIRBORNE BACTERIA IN MARKETS IN MAKURDI METROPOLIS

¹H.O.A. Oluma, T. Akande, E.E. Ebah and O.C. Godwin

¹Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science

University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State

ABSTRACT                                                                                                             

Samples of air were collected from three (3) different markets within Makurdi metropolis namely; Modern Market, Wurukum Market and Wadata Market to check the prevalence of airborne bacteria in the markets. The samples were collected from five (5) different subsites in each market using the exposed plate method and incubated at 37⁰C for 24 hours. The different colonies that developed after incubation were counted and identified based on their cultural characteristics, Gram reaction and biochemical characteristics. It was noticed that five (5) types of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Neisseria species, Salmonella species, Staphylococcus species, Streptococcus species) were found in the three (3) markets except in Modern market where Neisseria species was not found in any of the subsites. This may be due to the poor sanitary condition in Wadata market which can also affect and increase the bacteria load on food stuff. The sanitary condition should therefore be improved so as to reduce the bacterial load around the areas.