Bacteriological characterization of urban and rural markets waste dump sites in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Bacteriological characterization of waste dump sites, soil and air environment of an urban and a rural market during wet and dry days was conducted to determine the bacterial population and distribution in order to ascertain the market hygiene and environmental safety. A total of 64 soil samples were collected within three months and examined for heterotrophic bacterial counts. The mean bacterial counts ranged from 13.08 ± 2.29 х 104 cfu/g to 22.39 ± 5.38 х 104 cfu/g and 10.85 ± 0.66 х 104 cfu/g to 21.50 ± 1.67 х 104 cfu/g in the urban and rural markets respectively during the dry days. The mean bacterial counts ranged from 30.05 ± 5.49 х 104 cfu/g to 38.05 ± 5.27 х 104 cfu/g and 18.73 ± 5.45 х 104 cfu/g to 24.33 ± 4.14 х 104 cfu/g in the urban and rural markets respectively during the wet days. The bacteria isolated included Escherichia coli, Shigella sp, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp, Bacillus aureus, Enteroccoccus faecalis, Clostridium perfringens, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. E. coli was the most prevalent bacterium in the urban market with percentage prevalence of 93.76% while Enterococcus faecalis was the most prevalent bacterium in the rural market with percentage prevalence of 37.51%. There was significant difference (p< 0.05) between the bacterial population in the rural and urban markets during the wet and dry days. An effective waste management and disposal method in markets is therefore necessary to prevent potential disease outbreak.