ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF AIRBORNE BACTERIA FROM SOME OFFICES OF BURSARY, UNIBEN.

ABSTRACT

Microorganisms are found almost everywhere, and their presence in the air was demonstrated by the work of Lazzaro Splallanzani in 1768 and of Louis Pasteur at the end of the 19th century. Air is a resource that supplies us with oxygen which is essential for our bodies to live. Pure air is a mixture of gases that are invisible, colorless and odorless consisting of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and other gases as well as varying amounts of water vapor. This pure air can become contaminated in various ways affecting humans, plants and animals. Air sampling were collected by sampling plate method from some offices of Bursary department in university of Benin. The biochemical test that were carried out are Indole test, catalase test, coagulase test, urease test, oxidase test, antibiotics sensitivity test. The isolated airborne bacteria counts expressed in colony forming unit (cfu/m³) which ranged from 3.66×10² cfu/m³ to 16.59×10²cfu/m³ in week one and two respectively.For location two, value ranges from 4.54×10²cfu/m³ to 13.09×10²cfu/m³ in week one and two respectively. In the study, five (5) airborne bacterial which are; Staphylococcus aureus Enterococcus, Acinobacter, Bacillus and E.coli were isolated.