Prevalence of intestinal parasitic disease agents in stools of people in a rural area of Nigeria.

Abstract

Little is known of the prevalence of intestinal parasites in rural areas of Nigeria because there are few published data and laboratories in these areas are rarely well equipped for parasitological work. During a survey of a Nigerian village, Ascaris and hookworms were found to be the commonest helminths and Entamoeba coli the commonest protozoan. Differences in parasite prevalences between rural and urban areas of Nigeria are related to occupation, cultural patterns, and physical, social and biological environments.