Parasitic contamination of some Vegetables in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

Water and vegetable parasitic contamination is a cormopolitan problem that affects a great part of the world including Nile delta in Egypt. The most eminent causal parasites are nematode larvae and pathogenic protozoans such as Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp., coccidian oocysts and microspores. In this study, we sought to investigate the incidence/prevalence/abundance of parasitic contamination in vegetables irrigated by contaminated water at different places in Sharkia govenorate, Egypt. We compared the infection incidence rate for these plants to those irrigated with clean fresh water. We found vegetables dill (Anethum graveolens) infected with Ascaris Eggs with rate of infection (25%), Giardia cyst with rate of (12%), and Cryptosporidium oocyst. with rate (10%), parsely (Petroselinum crispum) infected with Trichuris eggs with rate (14%), Nematode Larvae with rate (6%), and Blastocystis hominis with rate (2%), lecttuce (lactuca sativa) infected with Dipylidium caninum with rate (7%), Ascaris eggs with rate (25%), Giardia cyst with rate (15%), green radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) infected with Trichuris eggs with rate (12%), Nematode Larvae with rate (2%), Entamoeba cyst with rate (10%), watercress (Nasuritum officinale) infected with Ascaris eggs with rate (20%), Entamoeba cyst with rate (8%), coriander (Apiaceae sp.) infected with Dipylidium caninum spp. with rate of infection (6%) , Giardia cyst with rate (13%), Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) infected with Ascaris eggs with rate (9%), Trichuris eggs with rate (6%), Nematode Larvae with rate (4%),