Isolation and Identification of Some Microbial Pathogens Associated with the External Body Surface of Periplaneta americana in Umuahia, Abia State

Abstract

Aim: This study was carried out to isolate and identify the microbial pathogens of medical importance on the external body surfaces of Periplaneta americana collected from toilet areas, residential/hostel areas and health facilities in Umuahia metropolis, Abia State, south-eastern Nigeria. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in Umuahia metropolis, Abia State, south-eastern Nigeria between October-December, 2014. Methodology: A total of 100 cockroaches from toilets (30), residential/hostel areas (46) and health facilities (24) in Umuahia were collected and their external body parts screened for bacterial, fungal and parasitological carriage. Sterile physiological saline used as washing fluid of the external surface of each cockroach was cultured by the streak plate method. The isolated bacteria were identified using standard bacteriological methods. Antibiotics susceptibility tests were done by the disc diffusion method. Results: Results showed that all the cockroaches were positive for different species of medically important bacteria and fungi.  Escherichia coli were the most common bacteria in the cockroaches’ from toilet (21.14%) and residential/hostel areas (22.37%) while, Staphylococcus aureus (21.74%) was the most frequent isolate obtained from cockroaches obtained from health facilities. Aspergillus species (33.16%) was the most prevalent fungal group. Quantitative analysis of the total viable count and microbial loads of the bacterial and fungal isolates from the three sites revealed that the isolates obtained from toilet areas were high as compared to those from residential areas. Antibiotic susceptibility of all the bacteria isolates revealed a common pattern of multiple drug resistance amongst isolates from health facilities when compared to those from toilet and residential areas. Conclusion: The result indicated that Periplaneta americana is a possible reservoir of several pathogens via their bodies and thus may spread multiple drug resistant species.