author(s)
Pushpa Sharma, BN Shringi and RK Sharma

abstract
Biometric devices (BDs) are the integral component of the present-day lifestyle, and their use has grown beyond imagination and more commonly used in both the public and private sectors to record attendance. The BDs recognize the person by fingerprint capturing in which physical contact occurs between the skin and the surface of the device. The BDs become the source of transmission of the microorganisms from one person to another when successive persons align their fingers on the device. Many studies conducted in different settings shows that they are the main source to transfer the pathogenic microorganisms. In this study the various microbial flora on the surface of BDs installed in Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner were studied. The aim of the study was to assess the risk of transmission of pathogenic micro-organisms through fingerprinting devices by isolating the microbial flora which may be present in the Biometric devices and also assess the bacterial load on fingerprint scanners (FPS) of BDs revealed the presence of 0.23 × 10³ to 3.52 × 10³ colony-forming units of bacteria per cm² of FPS. The wet swabs were used to collect the sample from the surface of the biometric fingerprinting device. The collected swabs were inoculated in the Nutrient agar plate, Blood agar plate and Mac Conkey agar plate and incubated overnight at 37^o C for the isolation of bacteria. The bacterial isolates were identified by performing Gram staining and biochemical reactions. The antibiotic sensitivity testing was done for the isolated pathogens. Out of the total 20 samples collected from the surface of the biometric fingerprinting devices, 16 (80%) samples were culture positive. Coagulase negative Staphylococcus species (CONS) was the commonest organism to be isolated 15 (75%), followed by Gram positive bacilli 15 (43.7%) and Gram negative bacilli of 16 (75%) among all the positive cultures. The Gram positive and negative bacilli isolated were Enterobacter spp., Aeromonas spp., Bacillus spp., Streptococcal spp., Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas spp.