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Table 4 Correlation Analysis on Bacteria Isolates across the Four Zones Studied

From: Microbial quality of ready-to-eat vegetable salads vended in the central business district of Tamale, Ghana

Ā 

zone1e

zone2e

zone2b

zone2s

zone2sh

zone3e

zone3b

zone1e

1

Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 

zone2e

āˆ’0.394

1

Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 

zone2b

0.266

0.556

1

Ā Ā Ā Ā 

zone2s

āˆ’0.200

0.271

0.400

1

Ā Ā Ā 

zone2sh

0.124

0.029

āˆ’0.446

āˆ’0.129

1

Ā Ā 

zone3e

āˆ’ā€‰0.148

āˆ’ā€‰0.297

0.038

āˆ’ā€‰0.219

-.779b

1

Ā 

zone3sh

.876a

āˆ’0.426

āˆ’0.141

āˆ’ā€‰0.553

0.324

āˆ’ā€‰0.323

1

  1. aCorrelation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
  2. bCorrelation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
  3. Note (Legend): zone1e (zone 1 E .coli), zone2e (zone 2 E. coli), zone2b (zone 2 Bacillus cereus), zone 2Ā s (zone 2 Salmonella spp.), zone 2 sh (zone 2 shigella spp.), zone3e (zone 3 E. coli), zone3b (zone 3 Bacillus cereus), zone 3 sh (zone 3 shigella spp.) (Table IV). Correlation matrix on the four zones in terms of the bacteria isolates revealed that a positive and significant correlation existed between E. coli in Zone 1 and Shigella spp. in Zone 3. These findings imply that E. coli and Shigella spp. in the two Zones came from similar sources of contamination and have a strong relationship. However, Shigella spp. in Zone 2 negatively but significantly correlated with E. coli in Zone 3. These results imply that Shigella spp. and E. coli in the two zones may have resulted from different sources of contamination since the correlation was showing a negative relationship. The results of the correlation matrix from the present is in contrast to the result established by Bakobie et al. (2017) who found no interrelationship between the various bacteria identified in their study in Tamale