The prevalence of Cryptosporidium Oocyst in vegetables in Basra city

In recent years, an increase in the number of cases of food-borne illnesses linked to fresh vegetables has been reported. One of the causative agents of these infections is Cryptosporidium and it appears that one route of transmission to humans is food-borne, so a vegetable has important roles. The goal of this study was to determine the level of Cryptosporidium contamination in vegetable. Total of (45) samples of vegetable were collected from different markets in Basra city were investigated for the parasite in June and August 2024. A sediment concentration method followed by modified Ziehl-Neelsen’s acid-fast staining was used to determine the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts. Our findings revealed that 33.3% of studied samples were contaminated with Cryptosporidium. The highest rate of contamination was recorder in radish (40%) followed by basil (33.3%) and celery (26.6%). Statistical analysis showed No significant differences between contaminations of vegetables with Cryptosporidium.