ABSTRACT

The car interiors are the inside parts of a car. This study evaluates the microbial communities of frequently touched car interior surfaces (private and commercial cars) within Umuahia. The predominant microorganisms isolated were Bacillus sp, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, and Fusarium sp. The total heterotrophic plate count ranged from 1.2×105 to 3.8×105cfu/ml. The total coliform plate count ranged from 1.1×105cfu/ml to 3.6×105cfu/ml. The total fungal plate count ranged from 1.5 × 105 to 3.2 × 105cfu/ml.. it was observed that Staphylococcus aureus is the most frequently occurring bacteria isolate from the various car interiors samples with a percentage occurrence of (42.1%), followed by Bacillus sp with a percentage occurrence of (36.8%), then, Escherichia coli with a percentage occurrence of (15.9%) whereas Klebsiella sp has the least percentage occurrence of (5.3%). In the same sequence, Aspergillus niger is the most frequently occurring fungal isolate from the various car interiors samples with a percentage occurrence of (45.5%), followed by Aspergillus flavus with a percentage occurrence of (36.4%) whereas Fusarium sp has the least percentage occurrence of (18.2%). This analysis suggests that car interiors may be important environmental reservoirs that are capable of harboring pathogenic microorganisms. This study concludes that cars act as potential source of contamination with many commensal and harmful microorganisms. These colonized microorganisms act as source of infection for the person travelling in it. So, regular cleaning practices may be a good strategy to limit colonization by potentially pathogenic microbes. Statistical analysis showed that there were significant differences in mean count of the car interior surfaces at P< 0.05.