A study on the effectiveness of antibiotics against bacteria isolated from the Al-Khassa river in Kirkuk city, Iraq

Abstract

Sewage uses wastewater consisting of human excreta, wash waters, and industrial and agricultural wastes (e.g., wastes from livestock, i.e., chicken, cattle, and horse) that enter the sewage system. The study aims to study bacteria isolated from sewage water to know their source and different antibiotics used and compare it with other bacteria present in human excretion. This study was carried out in March - 2019. 30) Water samples were taken from the Al-Khassa River in Kirkuk, starting from the Al-Tabaqchary bridge to the Domiez bridge; all the samples were worked in the general health laboratory of Kirkuk. All the water samples were collected in sterile containers and were processed within one hour after arriving at the laboratory. First, it was cultured on blood and MacConkey agar for each sample; the petri dishes were put in an aerobic incubator at 37 C0 for 24 hours. It was isolated on nutrient agar for purification, incubating at 37 C0 for 24 hours. Bacterial colonies were identified based on diagnosis using morphology, cultured, and biochemical characteristics. The antimicrobial screening was performed using Muller-Hinton agar disk diffusion assay for signing drug sensitivity; the study showed that E. coli represented the most isolated bacteria from Al-Khassa River (14 isolates), Serratia marcescens (10 isolates), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5 isolates) and Proteus spp. (only 2 isolates), The study showed that gentamicin was the most active antibiotic against the Gram-negative bacilli isolates tested, as only 2.6% of these isolates were resistant to this antibiotic at concentrations up to 10μg while susceptible to clindamycin. Keywords: Al-Khassa; Kirkuk; Sewege, river; Contamination