Assessment of parasitic pollution in the coastal seawater of Gaza city

Abstractbackground: the main objective of the study was the assessment of the prevalence and the identification ofspecies of human gastrointestinal parasites as an indicator of the pollution of the seashore of gaza city.methods: the investigation was conducted by analysis of the parasitic contamination of seawater along the studyarea. a total of 52 samples of seawater were analyzed during the summer period; from june to october 2011. thestudy area was divided into six zones (a, b, c, d, e and f) according to specific criteria such as the presence of thewastewater discharge points and other geographical characteristics.results: the results show that about 48% of the seawater samples from the shoreline region of gaza city werecontaminated with parasites. zones a, b and d (mouth of wadi gaza, al sheikh ejleen discharge and al shalehatdischarge points respectively) have the highest level of parasitic contamination, while, zones c and e (from al-baydarrestaurant to khalel alwazer mosque and the basin of the gaza marina respectively) had a lower level of contaminationand zone f (from the northern part of the gaza marina to the intelligence building) was uncontaminated. the parasiticspecies found were: ascaris lumbricoides, giardia lamblia, strongyloides stercoralis, hymenolepis nana, entamoebahistolytica/dispar and cryptosporidium parvum.conclusions: the present study revealed a high level of contamination with parasites at most of the points whichwere investigated along the gaza city coast line.