PARASITIC CONTAMINATION OF TWO COMMONLY CONSUMED LEAFY VEGETABLES IN EL-KHARGA OASIS, UPPER EGYPT, AND EVALUATION OF HYGIENE PRACTICES AMONG THE VENDORS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Zoology, Parasitology Lab., Faculty of Science, Assiut University

2 Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University

3 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, New Valley University, Egypt

Abstract

Foodborne parasitic diseases cause human morbidity and mortality especially in the low- & middle-
income countries. This study identified the parasitic contaminated Eruca sativa & Raphanus
sativus cultivated in El-Kharga Oasis, Upper Egypt, as to seasonal variation and the vendors hygiene
practices. A total of 270 samples of the two vegetables were purchased from public markets.
Parasitic contamination was evaluated by sedimentation and flotation techniques with modified
Ziehl-Neelsen stain. The results showed that 219(81%) samples were contaminated with 13
different parasites. Ascaris lumbricoides 123(25.5%) and Cryptosporidium parvum (14.9%) were
the commonest ones and the highest contamination rate was in autumn (87%) for E. sativa and in
winter (87%) for R. sativus. The contamination level was significant with the gender and washing
practices of vendors. The current data gave evidence of the seasonal dynamics of acquiring parasitic
infection due to consumption of raw vegetables, interaction, and its relevance with vendor's
hygiene.

Keywords

Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology
Volume 51, Issue 2
August 2021
Pages 289-296

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