Prevalence and Antibiogram of Gram-negative Bacteria Isolated from Well Water in Ula-Ubie Community, Ahoada West, Nigeria

Antibiotic resistance has become a great global problem. Thus, it has emerged as a public health challenge. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacteria in well water was characterized with a view of determining the level of resistance in the environment. Fifty well water samples were collected from ten different points in Ula-Ubie community, Ahoda, Rivers State for a period of five months. Standard microbiological methods were used to analyse the population and types of bacteria in the water while methods recommended by the American Public Health Association (APHA) was used to determine the physicochemical parameters of the samples. The antibiotic susceptibility profile of the bacterial isolates was carried out using the disc diffusion methods. The total heterotrophic bacteria of the water samples ranged from 0.93±0.46 to 2.02±1.06 log10 CFU/ml. The coliform counts ranged from 0.45±0.42 - 2.55±2.33 log10 CFU/ml, respectively. Despite the variations in the counts of the different bacterial population, there was no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the different well water samples. The physicochemical parameters except the pH were all within the permissible limits. Klebsiella spp, Pseudomonas spp, Serratia spp and Enterobacter spp were identified in the well water. The pH of the water stations ranged from 4.66 to 5.80. The temperature ranged from 24.0 to 24.7. The electrical conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, total hardness, alkalinity, total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, chloride, calcium and magnesium ranged from 22.9 – 219, 0.03-0.13, 4.50-4.90, 5.00-22.0, ˂0.01-3.00, ˂0.01, 49.6-84.5, 1.00-17.4, 3.00-24.5, 4.25-12.9 and 0,722-1.55 respectively. The antibiotic susceptibility profile showed that all the isolates were resistant to ceftazidime and augmentin, whereas Enterobacter spp were the most resistant bacteria amongst other bacterial genera to the antibiotics. Meanwhile there is an existence of multi-drug resistance. Thus, the wells could be considered not potable due to the presence of these bacterial isolates and the level of antibiotic resistant. Proper sanitation and cleanliness of well should be encouraged.