MOLECULAR CHARACTERISATION OF HOOKWORM DETECTED FROM PEASANT FARMERS IN SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study aimed at detecting the human hookworm species among peasant farmers in selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna State, Nigeria. A cross sectional, descriptive study was carried out between November 2014 and October 2015. One thousand two hundred eligible peasant farmers were enrolled in the study. One LGA was selected from each of the three Senatorial Zones of Kaduna State by simple random sampling method. The results obtained showed the overall prevalence of hookworm infection in the study population using microscopy technique to be 18.7%. In respect to LGA, prevalence of hookworm infection was 24.0% in Jema‟a, 17.3% in Chikun and 14.8% in Zaria LGA. The prevalence of hookworm infection was found to be significantly associated with the studied LGAs (P< 0.002). The result of the electrophoresis of 15 amplicons obtained from 15 positive stool samples from the three selected LGAs showed a corresponding base pair bands of 310bp which corresponds with the base pair of the N. americanus positive control. The result of the sequencing and basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) obtained showed that Sequence of Sample No. 5 from Zaria LGA had 95% identity with that of N. americanus, sequence of Sample No. 10 from Chikun LGA had 99% identity with that of N. americanus and finally sequence of Sample No.15 from Jema‟a LGA also gave a similar correlation of 97% as that of N. americanus. The result of the specie specific identification of the two human hookworm species (i.e. N. americanus and A. duodenale) obtained shows that N. americanus was predominant in the study area (Kaduna State, Nigeria) during the study. The results of this study indicated an overall prevalence rate of hookworm infection of 18.7% among peasant farmers in Kaduna State. This indicates a potential risk of severe anaemia among individuals particularly the vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children of school age who participate in farming. In conclusion, this study revealed the transmission of human hookworm among peasant farmers in Kaduna State to be at alarming rate. Thus, major prevention and control measures should be adopted to avoid further spread of the infection; and more so, there is a need for prompt treatment of the infected persons as well as creating a law that will prohibit indiscriminate defeacation on farm lands.