DETERMINATION OF PARASITE CYSTS AND OVA ON NAIRA NOTES FROM FOOD VENDORS IN SOME SELECTED MARKETS IN MAKURDI

Parasites with direct life cycles do not need an intermediate host to infect a new host so can be acquired by direct ingestion of ova or cyst and this can be from contaminated surfaces like banknotes. The aim of this research was to determine occurrence of parasite cysts and ova on Naira notes from food vendors in selected markets in Makurdi. Eighty (80) Naira notes comprising 16 units each of all the eight denominations were collected from food vendors. Each note was inserted into 20ml normal saline for 10 minutes and the content was centrifuged after removing the notes. A drop of the sediment was placed on a slide covered with a cover slip and viewed under x10 then x40 objective. The result obtained was presented in percentiles, summarized into respective means and accompanied with standard errors. Chi-square was used to test for significant differences in parasite distribution among the four markets sampled. Five (5) parasites’ ova (ova of Entamoeba histolytica, Trichuris trichura, Taenia solium, Hookworm and Ascaris lumbricoides) were observed with the frequency of 15(100%). A. lumbricoides had the highest occurrence of 5(33.32%) then E. histolytica 4(26.67%) while ova of Taenia solium had the least occurrence 1(6.67%). There was a statistical significant difference between the parasites identified in this study (χ2 = 33.663; df = 6; P = 0.000). N100 notes were more contaminated 6(40%) then N20 and N10 notes 3(20%) while N1000, N500 and N5 had the least contamination (0.0%). Naira notes from cooked food vendors had a slightly higher parasite occurrence 8(53.33%) than the snacks vendors 7(46.67).It is established that naira notes in this study harboured parasitic organisms. People handling ready-to-eat for should be educated on the danger of handling money and food simultaneously to avoid cross contamination.