IDENTIFICATION AND ESTIMATION OF PATHOGENIC BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION INDICATORS IN KHABUR RIVER, WITHIN ZAKHO DISTRICT, KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ
The Khabur River is the main source of water for the city of Zakho. So, the study's goal was to assess its environmental status in order to maximize its usage. In the current study, six sites were chosen to evaluate the microbial pollution indicators, such as Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC), Total Coliform (TC), Faecal Coliform (FC), and E. coli. Pathogenic bacteria were also isolated directly from the river. The recorded values were ranged as follows: HPC (7.3×102 -780×102 cfu/ml), TC (170-3200 cell/100ml), FC (79-1840 cell/100ml), and E. coli (12-540 cell/100ml). The highest values were recorded in the warm seasons compared to the cold ones, due to the appropriate temperature for bacteria and the frequent use of water by people. It was found that the river is exposed to continuous pollution by pathogenic bacteria as a result of sewage water that is directly discharged into the river and soil erosion on the banks of the river. 129 isolates of bacteria were identified and belonged to 33 species. The Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion procedure was done to examine the susceptibility of isolated bacteria to 21 different antibiotics. The Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) Index was calculated for the isolated bacteria, and the highest values were found for the bacteria Streptococcus agalactiae, Salmonella typhi, Proteus penneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aeromonas spp. Also the efficacy of the antibiotics used was determined. Amikacin, ciprofloxacin, Imipenem, Levofloxacin, and Gentamycin were recorded the highest value compared to the rest antibiotics, and their efficacy was 98.41, 97.27, 93.84, 91.66 and 90.9, respectively.
Khabur, Zakho, Pathogenic Bacteria, HPC, Coliforms, MAR Index.