The Occurrence of Pathogenic Factors in Escherichia coli O157 Isolated from Mobile Phones of Ekiti State University Students Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Mobile phones have become an essential commodity used for communication, thereby making  it an important accessory of human life. In fact, almost all the students in the university cannot do without a cell phone. In recent times, cell phones have been identified as one of the carriers of bacterial pathogens. The assessment of the different ways by which pathogens thrive on fomites and cause diseases in human being remains the aim of this study. Out of the one hundred and twenty seven (127) mobile phones screened only 21 (16.5%) were positive for E. coli while only 9 (7.1) were positive for E. coli O157. All the isolates were resistant to ampicillin; 8 (88.8%) were resistant to ofloxacin; 7 (77.8%) to Amoxycilin/ Clavulanate and cefuroxime; 5 (55.6%) to ceftadizime and 3(33.3%) to gentamycin and ciprofloxacin while all of the isolate were susceptible to nitrofurantoin. Out of nine (9) E. coli O157 isolates in this study, only three (3) (33.33%) were positive for haemolysis, four (4) (44.4%) isolates were positive for cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) while only seven (77.8%) were positive for production of biofilm. The polymerase chain reaction revealed that seven isolates showed necessary amplification using biofilm producing (Clf A) gene P fimbrial adhesin pap gene primers with band of 650 bp and 655 bp, while only three isolates showed amplification using hemolysin (hlyA) gene with 725 bp. Mobile phones which make communication easy and accessible also have the potential to form good carriers of pathogenic microorganisms which can aid the transmission of diseases. If care is not taken, they could be vehicles for the transmission of biological weapons.