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Sachet water (SW) is a major source of drinking in most Nigerian homes, thus making it a possible conveyance medium for health risks due to contamination if persist rather than for replenishment of the body. This study collected SW from three busy neighborhoods in South-West Nigeria and investigated for the presence of indicator bacteria (Escherichia coli (E. coli), Total Coliform (TC), Total Heterophilic Bacteria (THB), Staphylococcus (Staph)) and some physio-chemical parameters (total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and salinity). Multi-variable and exploratory statistical methods were applied to the results to determine correlations between bacterial contamination levels and perceived brand reputation. Bacteriological tests with raw SW samples appeared too numerous to count (TNC) and thus required serial dilutions. After seven-fold serial dilutions, results obtained revealed that SW brands with good reputations had no TC and E. coli and was statistically significant with groupings of other SW brands (χ2 = 12.28; p < 0.05 and χ2 = 37.96; p < 0.05). Additionally, SW brands with poor reputations had mean values of TC ( 19.7 × 10 8   cfu / mL ; 14 × 10 8   cfu / mL   1.15 × 10 8   cfu / mL ) and E. coli ( 18.2 × 10 8   cfu / mL ; 38.7 × 10 8   cfu / mL , 32.4 × 10 8   cfu / mL ) exceeding the threshold value of zero set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Only one sample from a poor reputation brand tested positive for Staphylococcus and was not statistically significant (χ2 = 5.2191; p = 0.074). Principal Component Analysis (PCA)/Factor Analysis (FA) revealed that most of the SW had fecal contamination was the major source. Therefore, this study suggests that periodic cleaning of distribution lines, location-specific treatment, and other quality control (QC) measures should be enforced to reduce water security risk for SW consumption in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Water is described as safe and wholesome when it is free from pathogenic microorganisms and chemical substances that are hazardous to human health. This study aimed to investigate the microbial quality of water used for drinking, cooking, bathing and other purposes at universities in Nigeria Methodology and results: Water samples were collected from forty-four storage tanks across four selected universities. Total viable bacteria in the water samples were cultivated using the plate count agar. The isolation of total coliform and Escherichia coli were carried out on Harlequin? E. coli/coliform agar (HA) medium, while media-faecal coliform was used for faecal coliform employing the membrane filtration technique. Physicochemical parameters such as alkalinity, pH, total alkalinity, total dissolved solid, total suspended solid, electrical conductivity, total hardness, fluoride and chloride ion concentrations, were evaluated in accordance with standard procedures. Data were compared statistically using MedCalc statistical software. Considering the heterotrophic bacterial counts, all water samples were unsatisfactory. For the total coliform counts, 50% of samples were satisfactory but suspicious, while remaining 50% were unsatisfactory. Faecal coliforms results showed that 50% of samples gave excellent quality, 25% showed satisfactory but suspicious quality, while 25% showed unsatisfactory result. There were no significant differences in the total viable, total coliform and E. coli counts of water sampled from universities A and D (p>0.05). The predominant bacterial species was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (23.17%), while the least encountered was Salmonella typhimurium (2.44%). All physicochemical parameters tested were within the acceptable limit Conclusion, significance and impact of study: This study revealed that the water used by students of studied universities was contaminated with potential bacterial pathogens. However, all physicochemical parameters tested were within the permissible standard limits and satisfied the requirements for domestic utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 45 samples of herbal preparation consisting of 15 each of “Maganin Shawara,” Maganin tsusan ciki and “Maganin Basir” claimed to cure typhoid fever, intestinal parasites and pile respectively were analyzed. The isolation, identification and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacterial contaminants of the herbal products were carried out using standard procedures. The study was aimed at determining the bacteriological quality of some liquid herbal preparations sold within Jos metropolis, Nigeria and the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates. The results showed that out of the 45 liquid herbal samples analyzed, 21 (46.67%) were contaminated with Esherichia coli, 8 (17.78%) with Staphylococcus aureus, 6 (13.33%) with Salmonella sp, 7(15.56%) and 3(6.67%) were contaminated with Bacillus sp and Proteus vulgaris respectively. Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that all the isolates have high level of resistance to the antibiotics used in this study. Findings of this study imply that the herbal preparations are of poor bacteriological quality and may be potential source for the dissemination of multi-drug resistant microorganisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physicochemical properties and bacteriological qualities of locally manufactured yoghurt samples obtained from retail outlets in Kaduna metropolis were investigated at ambient temperature(28.0±3.00C). The total aerobic mesophilic bacterial count increased from 12.25 x 10-1 cfu/ml to 16.00 x 10-1 cfu/ml with sample from Sahran brand of the yoghurt having the least count while samples from Ayman, Mapo and Lahda had the highest bacterial count. Fungal count, Staphylococcal count and Coliform count never exceeded 1.0 x 10¹cfu/ml for all the samples analysed. Yoghurt samples from Lahda and Jamil brands had the lowest % filled volume of 90.91 and 90.9 respectively. The protein contents of Lahda, Sahran and Ayman brands of the yoghurt were higher than those of the other brands analysed. The pH of all the yoghurt brands analysed fell within the standard range of 3.50 - 4.50. The safety of the locally made yoghurt samples for consumption was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]