INTESTINAL PARASITISM IN THREE RESETTLEMENT FARMS IN WESTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper presents results of population based surveys of intestinal parasitism among 242 settlers and 320 indigenous people in and around 3 resettlement schemes in Illubabor Administrative Region in western Ethiopia. Overall prevalence rates in settlers were 61.6% and in indigenous people 65.0%. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most common parasite in 5 of the 6 study communities, followed by hookworm, Trichuris trichiura, Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia, in that order. Only one case of schistosomiasis mansoni was found and no host snails, further indicating that its prevalence is still low in most of western Ethiopia. Differences in the prevalence of intestinal parasitism among the study communities appear to be associated with environmental sanitation, water supply and socio-economic status of households, although this needs to be verified in more extensive follow-up studies.