Parasitic contamination of khat (catha edulis) and Sanitary and hygienic practices of khat vendors in Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Human infection by medically important helminths and protozoa due to contamination of consumable Khat and other fruits and vegetables have been a serious worry. Mo st of them are consumed raw or chewed without being washed. Objective: To assess parasitic contamination of khat (Catha edulis) and sanitary and hygienic practices of khat vendors in Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia Me th od: Market-based cross-sectional study was conducted on Khat collected from vendors from May 5th to June 12th, 2022. For parasitic detection, 200g of khat was washed with physiological saline and the wet mount sediment was examined using light microscope, and the modified Zeihl-Neelsen staining technique was used for identification of egg, cyst and oocyst. Se mi structured questionnaire was used to assess factors associated with parasitic contamination of Khat. Epi data version 3.1 was used for data entry and exported to SPSS version 26 for analysis. Result: The overall prevalence of parasitic contamination of khat was 5.21% (16/307). Cyst of G. lamblia was the most prevalent contaminant parasite (2.28%), followed by oocysts of Cry ptosporidium spp. (0.98%, eggs of A. lumbricoides (0.65%), cysts of E. histolytica (0.65%). Egg of Taenia spp (0.32%) and T. trichiuria (0.32%) was the least. Khat contamination was eight times higher among vendors who had no hand washing habits before handling khat compared to khat vendors who always washed their hands before handling (AOR = 8.46;95% CI: 2.07-34.66, P=0.003). Conclusion: The main parasitic contaminants of khat were G. lamblia and Cryptosporidium spp in Jimma town. Parasite's presence significantly associated to hand washing habit after toilet,before handling of khat and untrimmed finger nail condition. Recommendation:Setting up of standard shops with required level for vending of C. edulis