Apart from localized gastrointestinal infections, Escherichia coli and Salmonella species are major causes of systemic disease in both humans and animals. Salmonella spp. cause invasive infections such as enteric fever, septicemia, osteomyelitis and meningitis while certain types of E. coli can cause systemic infections, including

Several herbs are traditionally used in the treatment of a variety of ailments particularly in the rural areas of South Africa where herbal medicine is mainly the source of health care system. Many of these herbs have not been assessed for safety or toxicity to tissue or organs of the mammalian recipients.

This study evaluated the antibacterial activity of some plants used in folklore medicine to treat diarrhoea in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The acetone extracts of Acacia mearnsii De Wild., Aloe arborescens Mill., A. striata Haw., Cyathula uncinulata (Schrad.) Schinz, Eucomis autumnalis (Mill.) Chitt., E. comosa (Houtt.) Wehrh., Hermbstaedtia odorata (Burch. ex Moq.) T.Cooke, Hydnora africana Thunb, Hypoxis latifolia Wight, Pelargonium sidoides DC, Psidium guajava L and Schizocarphus nervosus (Burch.) van der Merwe were screened against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, multi-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Isangi, S. typhi, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, Shigella flexneri type 1b and Sh. sonnei phase II. A qualitative phytochemical screening of the plants extracts was by thin layer chromatography. Plants extracts were screened for antibacterial activity using serial dilution microplate technique and bioautography. The TLC fingerprint indicated the presence of terpenoids and flavonoids in the herbs. Most of the tested organisms were sensitive to the crude acetone extracts with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 0.018–2.5 mg/mℓ. Extracts of A. striata, C. uncinulata, E. autumnalis and P. guajava were more active against enteropathogens. S. aureus and Sh. flexneri were the most sensitive isolates to the crude extracts but of significance is the antibacterial activity of A. arborescens and P. guajava against a confirmed extended spectrum betalactamase positive S. enterica serovar Typhimurium. The presence of bioactive compounds and the antibacterial activity of some of the selected herbs against multidrug resistant enteric agents corroborate assertions by traditional healers on their efficacies.

Plant derived antimicrobial co mpounds that have no or minimal to xicity to host cells are considered candidates for developing new antimicrobial drugs. Safety is therefore critical in the formulation of antimicrobials. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of some South African med icinal plant extracts. The methanolic and aqueous extracts of nine South African medicinal plants were screened for cytotoxic activ ities against MAGI CC5+ cells using MTT assay.The nine plant extracts used in the MTT assayrevealed Herb 2 (Cyanthula inculata) as the most potent extract identified with activity of (1.4 Cc 50 values of 25.6 mg/ ml) and induced over 50% of cell deaths, followed by herb 3 (Croton grattismus) and Herb 4 (Cassine trasvaalensis) with activ ity of (0.2 Cc 50 values of3.7 mg/ ml) each. The herbs that induced the least cell death, were herbs 5 (Capris tomentosa) and 7 (Hypoxis hemerocallidea), with the activity of (0.05 Cc 50 values of 0.9 mg/ ml) each. Of the nine p lant extracts, Croton grattisimus and Lycium inerme 2(22%), exh ibited minimal to xicity on MAGI cells and 7(77.8%) exh ibited 50% to xicity. In a similar study 2(22%) of the methanolic ext racts exhib ited anti-HIV1 IIIB activit ies and against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) only one med icinal plant extract (Lysium inerme) exhib ited 29% act ivity. In this study, a systematic evaluation of cytotoxic activit ies of methanolic extracts made fro m tested med icinal plants showed minimal to xicity on cell lines. Therefore, such plants could serve as sources for natural antimicrobial therapeutic agents.

In this study, we evaluated the physicochemical and microbial qualities of source and stored household waters in some communities in Southwestern Nigeria using standard methods. Compared parameters include: physicochemical constituents; Temperature (T), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Magnesium ion (Mg²⁺) and Calcium ion (Ca²⁺) and microbiological parameters included Total Coliform Counts (TC), Faecal Coliform Counts (FC), Fungal Counts (Fung C), Heterotrophic Plate Counts (HPC).Comparing Stored and Source samples, the mean values of some physicochemical parameters of most of the stored water samples significantly (p < 0.05) exceeded that of Sources and ranged in the following order: T (15.3 ± 0.3 °C–28.3 ± 0.5 °C), pH (6.4 ± 0.1–7.6 ± 0.1), TDS (192.1 ± 11.1 ppm–473.7 ± 27.9 ppm), TH (10.6 ± 1.7 mg/L–248.6 ± 18.6 mg/L), BOD (0.5 ± 0.0 mg/L–3.2 ± 0.3 mg/L), Mg²⁺ (6.5 ± 2.4 mg/L–29.1 ± 3.2 mg/L) and Ca²⁺ (6.5 ± 2.4 mg/L–51.6 ± 4.4 mg/L). The mean microbial counts obtained from microbial comparison of different points (Stored and Source) of collection showed that most of the stored water had counts significantly exceeding (p < 0.05) those of the source water samples (cfu/100 mL) which ranged as follows: TC (3.1 ± 1.5–156.8 ± 42.9), FC (0.0 ± 0.0–64.3 ± 14.2) and HPC (47.8 ± 12.1–266.1 ± 12.2) across all sampled communities. Also, the predominant isolates recovered from the samples were identified as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Rhizopus spp. and Candida spp. The presence of these pathogenic and potentially pathogenic organisms in the waters and the high counts of the indicator organisms suggest the waters to be a threat to public health.

In this study, we evaluated the physicochemical and microbial qualities of source and stored household waters in some communities in Southwestern Nigeria using standard methods. Compared parameters include physicochemical constituents; Temperature (T), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Magnesium ion (Mg²⁺) and Calcium ion (Ca²⁺) and microbiological parameters included Total Coliform Counts (TC), Faecal Coliform Counts (FC), Fungal Counts (Fung C), Heterotrophic Plate Counts (HPC). Comparing Stored and Source samples, the mean values of some physicochemical parameters of most of the stored water samples significantly (P<0.05) exceeded that of Sources and ranged in the following order: T (15.3±0.3^oC - 28.3±0.5^oC), pH (6.4±0.1 - 7.6±0.1), TDS (192.1±11.1 ppm - 473.7±27.9 ppm), TH (10.6±1.7 mg/L - 248.6±18.6 mg/L), BOD (0.5±0.0 mg/L - 3.2±0.3 mg/L), Mg²⁺ (6.5±2.4 mg/L - 29.1±3.2 mg/L) and Ca²⁺ (6.5±2.4 mg/L - 51.6±4.4 mg/L). The mean microbial counts obtained from microbial comparison of different points (Stored and Source) of collection showed that most of the stored water had counts significantly exceeding (P<0.05) those of the source water samples (cfu/100 mL) which ranged as follows: TC (3.1±1.5 - 156.8±42.9), FC (0.0±0.0 - 64.3±14.2) and HPC (47.8±12.1 - 266.1±12.2) across all sampled communities. Also, the predominant isolates recovered from the samples were identified as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Aspergillus spp, Mucor spp, Rhizopus spp and Candida spp. The presence of these pathogenic and potentially pathogenic organisms in the waters and the high counts of the indicator organisms suggest the waters to be a threat to public health.