TY - JOUR AU - Munshi, Saurab Kishore AU - Roy, Juel AU - Noor, Rashed PY - 2019/07/31 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Microbiological investigation and determination of the antimicrobial potential of cow dung samples JF - Stamford Journal of Microbiology JA - S.J. Microbiol. VL - 8 IS - 1 SE - Original Articles DO - 10.3329/sjm.v8i1.42437 UR - https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/SJM/article/view/42437 SP - 34-37 AB - <p>Cow dung is being used in agriculture as well for the household and religious purposes from the ancient time. Cow dung is known to possess antimicrobial activity and contains a wide variety of microorganisms with variable properties. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the microbial diversity including pathogenic ones of the cow dung samples as well as to determine the antimicrobial traits of the samples. In this regard, a total of 8 fresh cow dung samples were tested. All the samples contained a huge load of bacteria and fungi in an average of 10<sup>8</sup> and 10<sup>7</sup> cfu/g, respectively. An extended number of pathogenic bacteria were recovered. Among the pathogenic bacteria, <em>Staphylococcus </em>spp. and <em>Bacillus </em>spp. were predominantly found in every sample. The presence of <em>Pseudomonas </em>spp. <em>Escherichia coli</em>, <em>Klebsiella </em>spp. and fecal coliform were exhibited in most of the samples. <em>Salmonella </em>spp. and <em>Vibrio </em>spp. were found in 3 and 5 samples, respectively. The average load of the pathogens was 10<sup>4</sup> cfu/g. All the samples showed substantial degree of antimicrobial activity against all the pathogens tested. Samples 1, 2, 3 and 4 were effective in inhibiting the growth of all the tested pathogens. The findings of the present study revealed the need for safe application of cow dung in the agricultural field and of further investigation for the antimicrobial potential of the diversified microflora of cow dung offering agricultural, environmental and medical applications.</p><p>Stamford Journal of Microbiology, Vol.8(1) 2018: 34-37</p> ER -