Occurrence of Vibrio cholerae in Some Households Engaged in Livestock Farming in Some Parts of Zaria,

The study was designed to determine the presence of Vibrio cholerae from the environment in close proximity with livestock in Zaria, Kaduna state. Three hundred and thirty six environmental samples comprising soil, water, manure and vegetables were collected from some selected households in Zaria covering Zaria city, Sabo and Samaru from April to October 2006 and analyzed for the presence of Vibrio cholerae, one of the etiologic agent of gastroenteritis. Twelve Vibrios exhibiting characteristics of Vibrio cholerae were identified using biochemical techniques. Serological identifi-cation confirmed 5 (41.7%) of these isolates as Vibrio, 1 (20%) as Vibrio serogroup O1, Ogawa biotype. A 0.59 % pre-valence was obtained for this pathogen in the study. The 0.59 % isolation rate though low is significant considering it’s source being animal, since livestock keeping is a common feature in the study location, with animals living in close pro-ximity to man. This work is therefore imperative. Animals are a point source of contamination of enteric pathogens, there-fore extensive management system and proper treatment of animal manure is recommended before its use as fertilizer