Prevalence of Pathogenic Bacteria from Contaminated Yemeni Currency Notes in Taiz City

Pathogenic bacteria responsible for the causation of many common diseases have been identified on currency notes. The present investigation was carried out on one hundred currency notes of all the denominations (50, 100, 250, 500 and 1000 RY), obtained from different occupational mainly bus drivers, hawker street, vegetable vendor, restaurants and butchers and fish seller groups in Taiz city,Yemen. Identification and characterization revealed active participation of the following species of organisms in the ascending order of percentage as E. coli(50.28 %),Staphylococci aureus(14.04 %), Klebsiellaspp(4.39 %),proteus(4.39 %), salmonella(1.25 %), shigella(0.72 %), Coagulase negative staphylococcus(0.60 %), pseudomonas(0.50 %), beta haemolytic streptococcus(0.30 %),spore forming gram positive bacilli(0.30%) and alpha haemolytic streptococcus(0.10%). The study suggested that yemeni currency notes is commonly contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms and this contamination may play a significant role in the transmission of potentially harmful microorganisms or different diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, skin infections and also poses antibioticresistant, so great care should be taken during handling of money and the preparation and handling of food to avoid cross contamination.