Evaluation of Parasites as Contaminants of Currency Notes in Akure, Nigeria

Currency notes are used as a means of exchange during buying and selling of goods and commodities; thereby making them agents of disease transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate of contamination posed on these currency notes in Akure metropolis by parasites. A total of 160 different naira notes (5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000) were collected from food vendors, butchers, petrol attendants and fishmongers into transparent containers and transported to the laboratory. Based on the physical appearances of the notes, they were categorized as mint, clean, dirty, very dirty and mutilated. Standard parasitological techniques were employed to detect parasitic organisms on the notes. Of the 160 naira notes examined, 106 (66.3%) harbored eggs and other stages of the parasites. Mint notes did not harbor any parasite. 14 (70%) of clean notes, 31 (62%) of dirty notes, 61 (74.4) of very dirty and mutilated notes were contaminated, respectively. Parasites recovered from naira notes included Enterobius vermicularis (19.8%), Hookworm (8.5%), Giardia lamblia (22.6%), Ascaris lumbricoides (77.4%), Hymenolepis nana (21.7%), Strongyloides stercoralis (10.4%), Trichuris trichiura (25.5%), Isospora belli (2.8%), Entamoeba histolytica (87.7%), Balantidium coli (34%) and flagellates (7.5%). We found that 5, 50 and 100 naira notes had the highest contamination (45%) while 20 and 1000 naira notes had the least contamination (35% each). The results showed that there was a significant difference between the sources of the collection (P<0.05). Citizens should be educated on ways of handling money through personal hygiene by not abusing, mishandling or mutilating the currency notes.