ABSTRACT
Ants are very essential cause of spreading pathogenic bacteria to humans. This study was conducted for isolation of the pathogenic bacteria from external and internal parts of ants by hand picking. Total 135 samples were collected, in which 75% were contaminated with pathogens and 25% were negative. Among 9 species of ants, 11.11% carpenter ant, 5.20% pharaoh ant, 11.9 % fire ant, 6.60% weaver ant, 7.41% garden ant, 8.80% odorous ant, 5.90% pavement ant, 9.60% crazy ant and 8.14% little black ant were contaminated with bacteria. Fire ant was the most contaminated specie. The microbiological analysis identified the following microorganisms from above mentioned ants i.e. Citrobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Salmonella spp., Clostridium spp., Staphylococcus aureus., Enterobacter spp., Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. The examination of isolated bacteria for antimicrobial susceptibility revealed that most active antibiotics against these pathogens i.e. Colistin sulphate, Ciprofloxacin and Tetracyclines while multiple drug resistance was shown by Carbenicillin,Vancomycin, Lincomycin and Kanamycin.
