The microbial population in soil contaminated with abattoir effluent was
investigated using the spread plate method. The results revealed a high
mean count of 3.70±0.01×106 cfu/g and 1.40±0.04×104 cfu/g for bacteria
and fungi respectively. The counts were higher than that of the control soil
sample with 2.40±0.02×104 cfu/g and 1.10±0.02×103 cfu/g for the bacteria
and fungi respectively. Among the bacteria isolated, Escherichia coli had
the highest frequency of occurrence of 21.0 %, followed by Bacillus subtilis
and Staphylococcus aureus with 17.0 % each and Bacillus anthracis with
13.0 %. The lowest frequency of occurrence of 4 % was observed in
Bacillus polymyxa and Staphylococcus epidermidis respectively. In terms
of fungal isolates, Aspergillus niger had the highest frequency of
occurrence of 27 %, followed by Fusarium sporotrichioides (22 %) while
Absidia sp and Mucor pusillus with 6 % each. Results of the physicochemical
analysis showed that the contaminated soil samples had mean
pH of 7.36, mean temperature of 33 oC, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
of 18.53 % and nitrogen concentration of 0.23 mg/g.