Seasonal Influences on the Distribution of Bacterial Pathogens and Waterborne Diseases Transmission Potentials of Imo River, Nigeria.

The occurrence and population of pathogenic bacteria at certain points of Imo River, were determined. Water samples were collected for two seasons at major points of human activities along the river and subjected to standard microbiological and statistical analyses. Total heterotrophic bacterial count (2.9 x 10 9 – 3.7 x 10 3 CFU/ ml) and total coliform bacterial counts (9.0 x 10 6 – 2.5 x 10 2 CFU/ml) showed significant variation at P<0.05 for the two seasons. Percentage occurrence of individual isolates across the sampling points showed the presence of Escherichia coli (100%), Klebsiella spp. (71.0%), Shigella spp. (71.0%), Salmonella spp.(71.0%), Proteus spp.(42.9%), Vibro spp. (42.9%), Pseudomonas spp. (42.9%), Staphylococcus spp. (85.7%), Bacillus spp. (100%), Enterobacter spp. (57.1%), Citrobacter spp. (14.3%), Serratia spp.(14.3%) and Streptococcus spp.(14.3%). These organisms are of public health importance and imply that Imo River should be protected from pollution to avoid possible diseases outbreak and transmission.