Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Public Boreholes and Vendor-Supplied Drinking Water in a University Town: A Public Health Concern.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria pose a global public health threat due to their ability to withstand multiple antibiotics. This study investigated MDR bacteria in public boreholes and vendor-supplied drinking water and assessed their antimicrobial susceptibility. Water samples were cultured using the spread plate method and identified based on morphological and biochemical characteristics. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the disc diffusion method, and resistance variation across 14 antibiotics was analysed using using the Chisquare (χ²) test of independence, under the assumptions of categorical data, independence of observations, and expected cell counts ≥ 5 where applicable. All isolates exhibited multidrug resistance. Escherichia coli showed the highest resistance (85.7%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (78.5%), Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (64.2%), and others (57.1%). A statistically significant association was observed between antibiotic type and resistance rate, χ²(13, N = 41) = 362.72, p < 0.001. Amoxicillin, Ampicillin, and Nalidixic Acid showed 100% resistance, while Tarivid and Perfloxacin remained effective. These findings highlight the need for enhanced water safety and targeted antimicrobial surveillance to limit resistance transmission.