Abstract

Background: Consumption of fruits and vegetables are highly beneficial for maintenance of health and prevention of diseases. On the other hand, they can act as potential sources for the spread of various infectious parasitic diseases. Detection of medically important parasites in fruits and vegetables is paramount in the prevention and control of parasitic diseases. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence determinants of medically important parasites in fruits vegetables collected from local markets in Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving standardized parasitological techniques and structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from September 14 to October 29, 2015. Eight types of fruits and vegetables (lettuce, cabbage, carrot, tomato, green pepper, banana, orange, and spinach) were collected from nine conveniently selected local markets in Dire Dawa City. Equal numbers of samples (47 each, totally 376 samples) were randomly collected from the selected markets retail fruits and vegetables. The collected data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used in the analysis. Results: Out of the total 376 samples of fruits and vegetables examined, 178 (47.3%) were positive for medically important parasites. The highest rate of parasitic contamination was detected from lettuce, 29 (61.7%) and the least from orange, 12 (25.3%). The medically important Protozoans and Helminths identified were Gardia lamblia, 35 (9.3%), Entamoeba histolytica, 33 (8.8%), Strongyloide spp, 30 (8%), Cryptosporidium spp, 29 (7.7%), Cyclospora spp, 28 (7.4%), Ascaris lumbricoides, 24 (6.4%), Isospora spp, 16 (4.3%), Trichuris trichiura, 7 (1.9%) and Hymenolepis spp, 6 (1.6%). Significantly higher parasitic contamination rate was detected from fruits and vegetables which had not washed before display (AOR: 3.24; 95% CI: 1.54-6.80) an