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. 2019 Aug 15:7:e00119.
doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2019.e00119. eCollection 2019 Nov.

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) eggs contaminating soils in selected organic and conventional farms in the Philippines

Vachel Gay V Paller  1 , Shiela Babia-Abion  1   2
Affiliations

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) eggs contaminating soils in selected organic and conventional farms in the Philippines

Vachel Gay V Paller et al. Parasite Epidemiol Control. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Soils from selected organic and conventional farms in the Philippines were examined for parasite contamination. A total of 600 soil samples from twenty organic and conventional farms were collected and processed through modified sucrose floatation technique. Results revealed that 248 out of 600 (41.33%) soil samples were contaminated with parasite eggs. Parasites recovered were Ascaris spp. (39.0%), Trichuris spp. (26.0%), hookworm/strongylid (22.0%), Toxocara spp. (4.0%), Taenia spp. (3.0%), and some unidentified eggs (6.0%). Contamination rate was found higher in organic (48.30%) than in conventional farms (37.67%) (p = 0.834; not significant); and significantly higher in Southern (64.40%) than in Northern Luzon region (31.40%) (p = 0.015). In addition, contamination rate between soil depths was not statistically significant (p = 0.24), with depth 1 (0-5 cm) at 43% and depth 2 (6-10 cm) at 39.67%. Furthermore, some farming practices were recorded through survey and results revealed that the use of manure as fertilizer (p = 0.017) and wash water (p = 0.014) showed significant positive relationship with parasite contamination in soil. These findings have implications on food safety and could be used to help the agriculture sector and other stakeholders in their efforts to improve food safety policies.

Keywords: Agriculture; Farm soil; Philippines; STH.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map showing the collection sites in Northern and Southern Luzon Provinces, Philippines.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Systematic random sampling of 5 points in a 100 square meter farm area.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Proportion of STH eggs found in farm soils from selected farms in Northern and Southern Luzon provinces.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
STH eggs found in soil farms from Northern and Southern Luzon Provinces: A) Ascaris sp.; B) Hookworm; C) Trichuris sp.; D) Toxocara sp. (Scale bar: 10 μm).
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
STH contamination rate in two different depths of soils from organic and conventional farms in Northern and Southern Luzon, Philippines.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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