EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT GROWTH MEDIA FOR THE RECOVERY OF SULPHIDE REDUCING ANAEROBIC Clostridium perfringes FROM THE ENVIRONMENT

Clostridium perfringes is a gram positive, spore forming, anaerobic bacterium, and its spores are present in human and animal faecal matter in water and soil. The use of this organism as an indicator of water quality has not received its full attention, even though the presence of Clostridium perfringes in water can be considered conclusive evidence of faecal pollution. This organism is also extremely resistant to the action of chemical and physical factors which are used for the treatment of water. The objective of this study was to optimize and assess different growth media for the detection of Clostridium perfringes from environmental samples Three agar growth media, SFP (Bacto Perfringes agar base), OPSP (Oxoid perfringes agar) and BA (blood agar), were compared for utilization in the membrane filtration counting of Clostridium perfringes from different water sources in rural settlements. The results indicated that SFP agar recovered significantly greater numbers of C.perfringes than OPSP and blood agar. API and other identification test showed a significant number of false presumptive positive and negative isolates on OPSP and blood agar. 2Introductio