Moulds Menaces in Flood-Ravaged Homes: A Case Study of Dar Es Salaam City Tanzania

Abstract

Recently, Dar es Salaam city has been experiencing unexpected heavy rains which causes flood in several parts of the city. After the flood, houses are left cloggy, muddy and dumpy which promote the growth of moulds likely to affect returning residents. This work investigated the moulds status in 175 houses affected by the flood. Sampling was done using both Non-Volumetric Air Sampling (NVAS) and Swab Sampling (SS) methods. Macro-micromorphological characters were used for identification of the moulds. The results showed that out of the 175 examined houses 170 (97.1%) were found to have moulds while five houses (2.9%) including one control house were free of moulds. Five types of moulds were found dominated by a black spore former Aspegillus niger found in 87 houses (41.2%) followed by Penicillium species in 65 houses (37.1%) and Cladosporium species found in 60 houses (34.3%). The least group of moulds were the yellow mould Aspergillus flavus and white dermatophyte Trichophyton species each found in 15 houses (8.6%). The revealed moulds are well known to be associated with human health problems including production of carcinogenic metabolites, triggering allergic reactions to sensitive individuals, causing keratitis, skin lesions, nail fungus, sinusitis, intrinsic asthma, and pulmonary infections. The study thus suggest an premeditated public awareness on adverse effects that might be caused by moulds, call for the government interventions on thoroughly moulds status establishment and immediate deploy methods of moulds controls before residents returns to their flooded homes wherever such catastrophe occur for the healthy generation.