Contamination Rates of Strongyloides stercoralis on some Vegetables from Home-Stead Farms in Two Communities in Abua-Odua Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

Vegetables are very important parts of our daily meals for healthy living as much as they remain good sources of water and loads of essential nutrients. Vegetables sometimes get contaminated by soil transmitted helminth parasites and become a potential risk health to unsuspecting consumers. A few homestead farms in Ogboloma and Emelogo communities of Odua in the Abua/Odual Local Government Area, Rivers State, Niger Delta, Nigeria, were the study's locations. Vegetables were harvested directly from homestead farms, transported to the Entomology and Parasitology Laboratory, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in sterile waterproof bags. 200ml of 0.85% physiological saline solution was used to wash 200g of each sample before it was subjected to the usual sedimentation processes. After centrifugation, the sediment was recovered and placed on a grease-free microscope slide. Lugol's iodine was added to the sediment in little amounts, cover slip was placed over and was screened with an x4 and x10 objectives under a light microscope. The overall prevalence of Strongyloidis stercoralis was 67 (27.92%) with Ogboloma more contaminated than Emelogo. Talinum fruticosum (Water leaves) were the most contaminated with a prevalence of 48(80%) followed by Telfairia occidentalis (Pumpkin leaves) at 19 (31.67%). No helminth was recovered from Vernonia amygdalina (Bitter leaves) and Ocimum grattissimum (Scent leaves). Chi-square proved that there was a statistically significant difference (χ2=127.8; p< 0.0001). One-way Anova also shows that there was a very significant difference in the means when cross compared (F- Value= 82.53; p= <0.0001). The level of Strongyloides contamination of vegetables from home stead farms is a pointer to the indiscriminate practice of open defecation and the use of untreated faeces waste as organic fertilizers for cultivation. Vegetables should be washed severally with salt and avoid mere blanching to ensure safety consumption