Research Article published by African Journal of Microbiology Research Vol. 10(11), 21 March, 2016
Some Salmonella spp. are important pathogenic bacteria that can be transmitted to people via food and
water and that can cause disease characterized by mild to severe enteric and systemic illness. In
developing countries, infections caused by pathogenic antibiotic resistant Salmonella spp. are a major
health challenge, particularly in children. Through the use of membrane filtration and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) 1200 methods, the presence of fecal coliforms and antibiotic resistant
Salmonella spp. in surface water sources was investigated, some of which had shared access for
animals and people. Out of 100 water samples, 76 were positive for fecal coliforms and 63% of the
positive samples contained >100 CFU / 100 ml of water. We observed a significant positive correlation
between the number of fecal coliforms and the presence of Salmonella spp. (r=0.46, n=100, P=0.01).
Importantly, >26% of the samples were positive for Salmonella spp. and 88% of these samples harbored
isolates resistant to ≥1 antibiotic. Moreover, we found that 26% of antibiotic resistant Salmonella spp.
isolates were able to transfer their resistance traits to a recipient strain of Escherichia coli at the rate of
1-7 x 10-3 per donor cells. Microbiological contamination of water was clearly evident in open water
sources from northern Tanzania, and the presence of Salmonella spp. poses an immediate risk to
anyone who consumes these waters if untreated.