CONTAMINATION OF THE HANDLES AND BASES OF SHOPPING CARTS BY PATHOGENIC AND MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT BACTERIA

Abstract

Background and Aims: Shopping carts (SCs) are considered as highly contaminated public surfaces, and may play a role in transmission of some harbor heterotrophic bacteria to human being. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the hygienic conditions and presence of heterotrophic bacteria on the surface of the handles and bases of SCs taken from shopping stores in Al-Mafraq city, Jordan. Methods: Five different SCs were selected randomly from four shopping stores (designated as A, B, C and D) during May through June, 2011. Two dry swab samples were taken from each SC, one from the handle and another one from the base. All samples were cultured on nutrient agar as none selective medium and incubated aerobically at 37 °C for 48 hours. The resulting number of colony forming units (CFUs) in each plate was converted to CFU per cm 2 surface area. The species of bacterial isolates were determined by biochemical tests and 16S rDNA sequencing. Results: The number of heterotrophic bacteria per SC range between 6 to 133 CFU/cm 2 surface area for the cart handles and between 6 to 300 CFU/cm 2 surface area for the cart bases, indicating higher numbers of heterotrophic bacteria in the cart bases as well as more fluctuations in the number of heterotrophic bacteria at the handles and bases of SCs. These analyses also confirmed the presence of seven coliform and three noncoliform species on the tested surface of the handles and bases of the selected stores. These include E. coli spp., Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Burkholderia cepacia, Yersinia enterocolitica, Tatumeella ptyseas, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella sonnei, Bacillus cereus, and Bacillus pumilus.