Sanitary Status and Occurrence of Some Water-Borne Pathogens in Well and Surface Waters of Panhauya Community and Ahmadu Bello University Farm, Zaria

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goal on sanitation aims to achieve universal access to good health, affordable drinking water, sanitation, and an end to open defecation by 2030. The recent ranking of Nigeria as first globally for open defecation is of public and environmental health concern. This study assessed the sanitary condition and the microbiological quality of well and surface waters of Panhauya community and Ahmadu Bello University farm, Zaria, and the antibiogram of the bacterial isolates. Based on the WHO criteria, the sanitary inspection showed that 16.7%, 54.2%, 25%, and 4.2% of the water sampling points had a very high, high, intermediate, and low risk of contamination respectively. The occurrence of Escherichia coli, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp., and Vibrio cholerae in water samples from Panhuaya community was 87.5%, 75%, 68.8%, 50%, 25%, and 12.5% respectively. In ABU farm Shika, the occurrence was: E. coli (75%), E. histolytica (63%), G. lamblia, and Salmonella spp.. All E. coli isolates exhibited high multidrug resistance to antibiotics screened with a MAR index of 0.3-0.8. The drinking water sources in Panhuaya and ABU farm were unsafe, and the presence of these pathogens in the water samples may be attributed to several factors, including poor sanitation, manure application, and open defecation practices. This indicates a public health risk to the residents and emphasizes the need for safe water supplies, sanitation, and antibiotic stewardship.