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Consumption of contaminated fruits and vegetables could be one of the ways that
community can be infected with gastrointestinal parasites. A cross-sectional study was
conducted between March and April 2021 (i) to assess the community awareness on the
knowledge of aetiology, clinical signs, transmission and control practices towards
gastrointestinal parasites in fruits and vegetables (ii) to determine the prevalence of
gastrointestinal parasites contaminating fruits and vegetables sold at five central public
markets in Zanzibar. A random sampling method was adopted for the selection of
respondents. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 400 respondents to
assess their awareness on gastrointestinal parasites. Similarly, a random sampling method
was adopted for the collection of 300 samples of fruits and vegetables from the markets,
then samples were processed and microscopically examined for detection of
gastrointestinal parasite contamination on fruits and vegetables. The results indicated that,
75.5% of the respondents higher awareness on gastrointestinal parasites. Specifically, the
respondents had good knowledge on control practices (85.3%), followed by transmission
(80.5%), clinical signs (69.5%) and aetiology (56.4%). Out of 300 samples of fruits and
vegetables, 24 samples were identified to be contaminated with gastrointestinal parasites
at the prevalence rate of 8%. The detected gastrointestinal parasites included; larvae and
eggs of Strongyloides stercoralis (5.7%), larvae of hookworm spp (1.0%), eggs of
Ascaris lumbricoides (0.7%), larvae of Bunostomum spp (0.7%), cyst of Entamoeba spp
(0.33%) and larva of Haemonchus spp (0.33%).The findings of this study have indicated
that community in Zanzibar were aware on transmission and control practices for fruits
and vegetables contamination with gastrointestinal parasites. Moreover, the study has
indicated that fruits and vegetables sold at the markets were contaminated with
gastrointestinal parasites. |
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