Bacteriological quality of four vegetables: waterleaf (W), pumpkin (P), cucumber (C) and tomatoes (T) cultivated in soils treated with poultry manure and the manure-treated soil samples (S1, S2, S3 and S4) were assessed using standard microbiological methods. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella spp., Bacillus spp, Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp were recovered from the soil and vegetable samples. The total bacterial count of the soil samples ranged from 1.75×10⁹ (S3) to 5.9×10⁴cfu/ml (S4) while the total bacterial count for the vegetable samples ranged from 2.65×10⁹ (P) to 1.50×10⁵cfu/ml (W). The total coliform count of the soil samples ranged from 1.65×10⁷(S3) to 6.9×10⁴cfu/ml (S4) while that of the vegetable samples ranged from 1.20×10⁸(P) to 7.2×10⁵cfu/ml (W). S1 was significantly different from S2 and S4 for the total bacteria count for the soil samples while P and W were significantly different for the vegetable samples (P< 0.05). For Salmonella-Shigella plate counts, S1 and S4 were significantly different and S2 and S3 were same (P< 0.05); while for the vegetable samples, P, W, C and T were significantly different (P< 0.05). S1, S2, S3, and S4 were significantly different for the total coliform count for the soil samples and same for P, W and C (P<0.05). Sensitivity screening for the isolates showed that Bacillus spp was most sensitive to Ofloxacin (25mm) while Staphylococcus aureus was most sensitive to Ofloxacin (22mm). Shigella was most sensitive to Ciprofloxacin (25mm) while E. coli showed highest sensitivity to Ciproflacin (25mm) and Ofloxacin (25mm). In addition, Klebsiella spp was most sensitive to Ciprofloxacin (23mm) and Ofloxacin (23mm) and Salmonella showed resistance to all the antibiotics. This study demonstrated that there is a high level of microbial contamination associated with the cultivation of vegetables in soils in which organic manure has been applied to which is of risk to the consumers.

bacterial pathogens, contamination, poultry manure, soil, vegetables