Sanitary status and water quality of some drinking water sources and antibiogram of Shiga toxin-producing O157:H7 isolated from Shika, Zaria, Nigeria.

This study assessed the sanitary condition and quality of selected wells and boreholes in Shika, Zaria Nigeria. Fifty samples each were collected during the dry and wet seasons. This involved sanitary survey, water quality assessment, isolation and characterization of Shiga toxin-producing O157:H7 (STEC) and, antibiogram assay.

Water quality assessment: surface water sources used for drinking and irrigation in Zaria, Nigeria are a public health hazard.

We assessed the quality and pollution status of source surface waters in Zaria, Nigeria by monitoring the nature, cause and extent of pollution in Samaru stream, Kubanni River and Kubanni dam over a period of 10 months, between March and December 2002. A total of 228 water samples was collected from 12 sites and analysed for a total of ten physicochemical and one bacteriological quality indicators, using standard methods. Aesthetic water quality impairment parameters were also observed.