209 FUTA Journal of Research in Sciences, 2013 (2): 209- 216 ANTIBIOTIC SENSITIVITY PATTERN OF MICROORGANISMS ISOLATED FROM REMNANT FOODS AND WASTEWATER FROM RESTAURANTS C. O. Ogidi* and V. O. Oyetayo Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, P M B 704, Akure, Nigeria. *E-mail: clementogidi@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Antibiotic sensitivity of microorganisms isolated from remnant foods and wastewater in restaurants was assessed. Samples obtained from different restaurants were microbiologically examined and sensitivity to antibiotics by isolates was carried out by conventional methods. The microbial load in remnant foods and wastewater samples ranged from 7.3×10 8 cfu/ml to 8.4×10 8 cfu/ml and 1.0×10 5 sfu/ml to 1.3×10 5 sfu/ml for bacteria and fungi respectively. The following microorganisms; Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, Shigella dysenteriae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Rhizopous stolonifer, Aspergillus niger, Triscelophorus monosporus, Mucor mucedo were isolated. Highest percentage occurrence was observed for Aspergillus niger (24.1%) while the lowest was observed for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.1%). The isolates exhibited various levels of resistance to augmentin (83.3%), nitrofurantoin (80%), gentamycin (83.3%), amoxicillin (75.0%), cotrimoxazole (80%) and ceftriazone (62.5%). The percentage resistance to tetracycline by Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi isolated from remnant foods was 80 and 87.5 respectively. Staphylococcus aureus from remnant foods and wastewater have resistance percent of 58.3 and 50 to chloramphenicol. The multiple resistances displayed by isolates against commonly available antibiotic portends a great danger of laden the environment with potential pathogens by the indiscriminate disposal of remnant foods and wastewater. Key words: antibiotics resistance, restaurants, remnant foods, wastewater, environment INTRODUCTION The implications of untreated wastes on environment and public health currently required a regular monitoring and appropriate legislation. This is because wastes or effluents with constituent beyond permissible limit are directly discharged into public water source, open space, or as an underground injection without treating such wastes. This act will definitely impose negative impact on communities (Ogunfowokan et al., 2005). Restaurants in developing and underdeveloped countries dispose their generated wastes without any treatment. These wastes accumulate different kinds of microorganism that are sourced directly or indirectly contact of contaminated kitchen equipment, human transmission of faecally contaminated hands from infected handlers, transfer of pathogenic organisms from unhealthy slaughter animals and most importantly the hygienic disposal of restaurant wastes. Invariably, the unknown microbial quality and quantity of wastes being discharged from restaurants may be considered as a source of resistance pathogen. Van et al. (2007) indicated alarming multidrug resistance frequencies for isolated organisms from food- borne bacterial contaminants. Environmental stresses on microorganisms during food preparation such as cooking, washing with detergent, addition of preservative and food component may lead to change in nature and induce multiple drug resistance (Rowan, 1999). McMahon et al. (2007) reported the decrease in susceptibility of organisms to a range of currently used antibiotics as a result of environmental stress. Thus, environmental bacteria had received more focus as another source of reservoir of antibiotics resistance gene and potential source of novel resistance gene in clinical pathogen (Dantas et al., 2008). The wide spread emergence of antibiotics resistance among pathogenic microorganisms had become serious challenge in clinical theraphy (Li