Air Microbial Contamination at the Holy Mosque, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
A.A Abdel Hameed1*and T. Habeeballah1
1Department of Environmental and Health Research, The custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Institute for Hajj and Umrah, Umm-Al Qura University, 21955 Saudi Arabia
http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.8.2.03
Airborne microbial contamination was collected from the main directions of the holly mosque (Al-Haram mosque), Makkah city, by using the gravitational method. Bacteria, fungi and actinomycete concentrations ranged between 1470– 21800 CFU/m3; 44 - 572 CFU/m3, and 0.0 - 264 CFU/m3, respectively at all directions. Bacterial concentrations significantly differed between directions, and Gram positive bacteria constituted ~ 90-100% of the total bacterial isolates. Gammaproteobacteriawerethe common Gram negative bacteria, andAspergilluswas the predominant fungal genera. Mesophilic bacteria negatively related (P< 0.05) with relative humidity. Human activities had more effective influence on the microbial concentrations than the meteorological factors.
Air; Biocontamination; Directions; Biodiversity; The Holly Mosque; Makkah
Copy the following to cite this article:
Abdel Hameed A. A, Habeeballah T. Air Microbial Contamination at the Holly Mosque, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Curr World Environ 2013;8(2) DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.8.2.03
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Abdel Hameed A. A, Habeeballah T. Air Microbial Contamination at the Holly Mosque, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Curr World Environ 2013;8(2). Available from://www.a-i-l-s-a.com/?p=4916
