POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH CURATION OF ENTOMOLOGICAL SPECIMENS

Abstract

Hazard can be so detrimental to the extents of incapacitating, disabling or even destroying lives of persons. Prevention of hazard is among the key components that every organization that aims at becoming successful should always seek after. Unlike in research institutions and laboratories where hazards on materials handled are clearly known, and prevented; hazards that associate with biological-related jobs are not easily discerned especially by non-professional persons. In order to determine possible risks that insect curators can become exposed to, fungi species associated with preserved entomological specimens were isolated and identified using standard microbiological pour-plate techniques. Of the sixteen families of insects belonging to eight orders, two orders – Odonata and Hymenoptera, did not host ectosymbiont microorganisms that can cause diseases or trigger disease conditions. Aspergillus niger, Bispora pumotata, Hyalodendron species, Neurospora crassa, Penicillium frequentans and Trichoderma viride were identified from this study. The results of this investigation is discussed relative to the importance of pathogenic fungi as threats to lives in environment where entomological specimens are preserved and managed.