Prevalence of Parasitic Contamination of Cockroaches Collected from Fresh Markets in Chachoengsao Province Thailand

摘要

Cockroaches are the greatest potential mechanical vector of various pathogenic microorganisms. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and species type of human pathogenic parasite infestations on the external body surface of the cockroaches. A total of 450 cockroaches collected from three fresh markets were identified in three species belonging to and . Helminth and protozoan species were identified by using a direct wet smear technique and modified acid-fast staining technique. The overall prevalence rate of parasitic infestation on the external body surface of cockroaches was 46.4% (209/450). The number of cockroaches infested with protozoa was 44.7% (99/209) and helminths was 44.0% (92/209), while 8.6% (18/209) were infested by both protozoan and helminth parasites. A total of 272 parasite specimens belonging to 16 species were found: ten species of protozoan were identified as spp. (15.4%), / (8.5%), spp. (7.0%), (6.6%), (6.6%), (4.0%), (2.2%), (1.5%), (1.1%) and (1.1%); six species of helminths included spp. (8.5%), (6.3%), (5.9%), spp. (5.1%), (4.4%), and hookworm (2.2%). Unidentified species of the helminths were isolated, namely nematode larva (9.9%) and helminth eggs (3.7%). Our results show that the cockroaches collected from fresh markets are potential mechanical vectors of several protozoan and helminth species.