Abstract
Background: Disposable cups are usually used for drinking without any form of pre-cleaning, this has the potential to expose individuals to pathogenic microorganisms, and unfortunately this issue has not been investigated in Gombe metropolis, hence, this study aimed to investigate the bacteriological aspect of the problem and to reduce the existing knowledge gap regarding this problem. Methods: Thirty samples were collected using simple random sampling from two different markets, then swab sticks pre-moistened with peptone water were used to swab the inner portions of the cups, put in sterile distilled water, serially diluted, inoculated on nutrient agar, and incubated. Identification of the isolates were done using their physical and biochemical characteristics, antibiotic susceptibility tests were done using disc diffusion method and interpreted using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Results: The total mesophilic bacterial counts ranged from 3.0×105 to 9.9×105 CFU/ml. These isolates were identified and tested for their sensitivity to some antibiotics which revealed that Escherichia coli (E.coli ) were sensitive to augmentin, ampicillin, and ciprofloxacin, but intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were sensitive to ciprofloxacin and augmentin, intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol, and resistant to ampicillin. Bacillus spp were sensitive to augmentin, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol and ampicillin, while Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P.aeruginosa) were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, augmentin, and chloramphenicol, but intermediately resistant to ampicillin. Conclusion: These new disposable ready-to-use cups harbored some potentially pathogenic bacteria which were resistant to some antibiotics. It is therefore recommended that pre-use hygiene practices should be done on these cups prior to use to avert the health effects of consuming these bacteria.
Highlights
The results of this study showed that the sampled disposable cups harbored some bacterial contaminants which showed varying levels of responses to antibiotic sensitivity tests
The sensitivity test for bacteria isolated from both old market and new market samples (Table 4) revealed that E. coli were sensitive to augmentin, ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, and intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol
The bacteria isolated from these plastic cups are believed to be contaminants that originate from either the industrial packaging stage or through unhygienic commercial handling, Rana et al [17] previously isolated some bacteria from samples of food packaging items in Jashore, Bangladesh
Summary
Results from a study carried out in India showed the existence of bacterial contamination in all the food wrapping samples tested, extending from 1.3×102 to 6.1×103 CFU/g of sample [3]. Many of those packaging samples had bacterial presence greater than the tolerable level of 2.5×102 CFU/g as established by the Food and Drug Administration [3]. Results: The total mesophilic bacterial counts ranged from 3.0×105 to 9.9×105 CFU/ml These isolates were identified and tested for their sensitivity to some antibiotics which revealed that Escherichia coli (E.coli ) were sensitive to augmentin, ampicillin, and ciprofloxacin, but intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were sensitive to ciprofloxacin and augmentin, intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol, and resistant to ampicillin. It is recommended that pre-use hygiene practices should be done on these cups prior to use to avert the health effects of consuming these bacteria
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