Prevalence, Distribution, and Pattern of Pathogenic Intestinal Parasites in Faecal Effluents Obtained from Abattoirs in Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: This study was undertaken to isolate and identify intestinal parasites in fecal effluents from abattoir. Intestinal
parasitic infections are amongst the most common infections affecting approximately 3.5 billion people causing over 450 million
ill health problems annually. The three major soil-transmitted helminths of global health concern are; Ascaris
lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Hookworm. They cause over one billion infections and two billions are at risk of infection.
Methodology: A total of 162 samples were examined out of which 70 faecal samples were collected from cow, 35 from pig, 35
from goat and 22 from sheep. These samples were processed using standard parasitological techniques (including macroscopy,
microscopy; the Formol-ether concentration technique and zinc sulphate floatation technique). Results: A total of 111 samples were found positive with one or more parasites giving an overall prevalence of 68.5%. The different parasites encountered include Fasciolopsis buski (8.6%), Hookworm (8.0%), Ascaris suum (7.4%), Balantidium coli (7.4%), Fasciola hepatica (7.4%), Entamoeba histolytica (7.4%), Taenia species (6.2%), Fasciola gigantica (4.3%) and Toxocara species (1.2%). Mixed infections of Balantidium coli+Entamoeba histolytica has the highest frequency of 4(2.5%) followed by Entamoeba histolytica+Hookworm and Toxocara species+Balantidium coli with the frequency of 3(1.9%) each, Ascaris suum+Taenia species, Ascaris suum+Taenia species+Hookworm and Balantidium coli+Fasciola hepatica with a frequency of 2(1.2%) each and Toxocara species+Balantidium coli recorded the lowest frequency of 1(0.6%). Conclusion: This study shows that there are high degrees of fecal contamination of intestinal parasites. As a result of this, sanitary measures and Government policy should be strictly employed as this will go a long way to help check environmental contamination and reduce potential risks posed by these pathogens.