Waters used for recreational activities in order to ensure the health of populations who practice their recreational activity. Disease or infection risk associated with recreational water areas is mainly related either to faecal contamination or to domestic or hospital effluents. The present study aimed assessment of microbiological contamination of surface waters (rivers and lake) of three cities in southern Côte d'Ivoire used for recreational activities, by bacteria generally found in humans

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... nd animal's digestive tract, and then assesses their resistance to commonly antimicrobial drugs used in human therapy. Water samples have been taken from different identified sites over a 13-months period. A microbiological analysis based on numbering of germs was performed then isolated strains were assayed for antibiotic sensitivity tests. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0 software. Results have shown the presence of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis in waters analysed. E. coli, a faecal contamination marker, was present in all the analysed waters with levels higher than standards defined by the 2006/7 /EC European Directive for bathing water, making them unsuitable for swimming. E. coli strains showed high levels of resistance to amoxicillin, ticarcillin, nalidixic acid and cotrimoxazole. Moreover, a beta-lactamase producing strain was isolated, suggesting probability of contamination by hospital or domestic effluents. The results of this study show the importance of microbiological monitoring of surface.