Isolation And Identification of Indoor Air Microflora in Microbiology Laboratory of Nile University of Nigeria

Abstract

A study was conducted to isolate and identify air microflora in Microbiology Laboratory of Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja. Nutrient agar and Potato Dextrose agar were prepared and poured into petri dishes and exposed to the air in Microbiology laboratory for 30minutes in the morning before the commencement of class activities and in the afternoon, during class activities. The plates were incubated at 37 ºC and 25 ºC respectively to isolate bacteria and fungi. The isolated bacteria species were Staphyloccocus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp. and Alkaligenes faecalis, while the fungal species were Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp. Aspergillus fumigatus, Mucor flavus and Fusariummoniliforme. The microbial counts of the afternoon exposure were much higher than those of the morning hours and the isolated bacterial species demonstrated relatively high sensitivity to antibacterial antibiotics used for the study except for Klebsiella sp. which had 20 % resistance and Alcaligenes faecalis with 30 % resistance. It is recommended that all environmental conditions that can facilitate the proliferation of these microorganisms in the laboratory should be prevented in order to protect the health of staff and students.