PARASITIC CONTAMINATION

A parasite is a living organism that lives inside or on another living organism, the host upon which it relies on for the resources necessary for its survival. A parasite depends on the host for its growth and reproduction. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of parasitic contamination in fruits from Efehi Street, New Benin Market and how the location affects it. The fruits examined were Cucumber (Cucumis sativus), Carrot (Daucus carota), African pear (Dacryodes edulis), and Garden egg (Solanum aethiopicum). The overall prevalence of parasitic contamination recorded in this study was 91.7%. Parasitic contamination was highest in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) with Overall prevalence of 96.7% while the least contaminated was African Pear with prevalence of 86.7%. The parasites recovered from the fruits were Ascaris lumbricoides, Strongyloides stercoralis, Trichuris trichiura, Enterobius vermicularis, Ancylostoma duodenale, Trichostrongylus sp., Taenia sp., Heterophyes heterphyes, Entamoeba sp., Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia intestinalis, Balantidium coli, Unidentified nematode larvae and unidentified nematode egg. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most prevalent parasite and it was recovered from 60% of the samples. Most fruit samples got contaminated due to the unhygienic means of storage and transportation