Occurrences of salmonellatyphi in drinking water sources as a risk factor of typhoid fever outbreak in the community of Paya sub-county, Tororo-Uganda.

Abstract

Typhoid fever is a major cause of human mortality throughout large areas of the world. Human typhoid occurs following the ingestion of the Salmonellatyphi bacteria, mostly found in contaminated water, animal products or close association with an infected individual. This study investigated the bacterial load of the water samples, and identified of Salmonellatyphi bacteria isolated from different drinking water sources in Paya Sub-County. Sampling and collection of the water samples took three weeks with one sampling per week. Aseptically, 100ml of each of the samples of river and borehole, well, and tap water were collected from different sources and sites in Paya sub county. 5 petri dishes of XLD (xylose lysine deoxycholate) Agar were inoculated with each water sample by streak method at 37oC for 24hrs. Colonies on nutrient agar were counted using colony counter technique and the plates having colonies were recorded. Pure cultures of salmonella were made on TSA (trypticsoyagar) which were then gram stained before microscopy. Clear red rod shaped colonies with black centers, gram–negative rods clustered together (staphylobaccilli) were observed in the microscope. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% confidence level was used to compare all numeric analysis for the total plate count were made using the parametric test where statistical significance existed between the observed two data sets. The null hypothesis was therefore rejected; and alternative hypothesis accepted. Therefore, the stream and pond water sources contained significant bacterial loads that were responsible for the persistent typhoid fever outbreaks in Paya community. Conclusively, the natives were advised to improve on their personal and environmental hygiene, boil water for drinking, emphasize regular handwashing, eating hot food and ensure proper human waste disposal. However, more research needs to be done to explore further on the water quality in relation to typhoid fever, multi-drug resistance of salmonella in many typhoid patients and the cause of this drug resistance.