Parasites on Vegetables Sold at Masaka Market, Karu, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The consumption offresh vegetables serves as source ofimportant nutrients in the body; however, parasitic infection from the consumption ofraw fruits and vegetables is on the increase. This study aimed at identifying the parasitic contamination of Vegetables sold at Masaka market New Karu, Nasarawa State. A total of 240 samples of vegetables were examined by sedimentation concentration after washing using normal saline. The overall prevalence of parasitic contamination was 52.5%. Fluted pumpkin (93.3%) was the most contaminated vegetable while cucumber and apple (16.7%) were the least contaminated vegetables (P>0.05). Strongyloides stercoralis (28.9%) was the most frequently detected parasite followed by Taenia spp (18.8%), Entamoeba coli (17.2%), Hookworm (13.3%), Entamoeba histolytica (8.6%), Ascaris lumbricoides (7.8%) and Toxocara spp (5.5%) was the least detected parasite. The parasitic contamination ofdifferent vegetables shows that Tomatoes and Lettuce had the highest poly-parasitic contamination of four species of parasites, whereas Apple and Cucumber had the least poly-parasitic contamination of one parasite. Strongyloides stercoralis had the highest infestation (37.5%) of the water samples used to refresh the vegetables. Vegetables that were washed before display for selling was significantly associated with reduced parasitic contamination (P>0.05). Vegetables are potential sources oftransmission for intestinal parasites in the study area, hence, proper washing offruits and cooking ofvegetables is required to reduce parasitic infections.