Malaria has become a major public health problem in Mauritania since the 1990s, with an average of 181,000 cases per year and 2,233,066 persons at risk during 1995–2012. This paper provides the first publicly available overview of malaria incidence and distribution in Mauritania. Information on the burden and malaria species distribution is critical for guiding national efforts in malaria control. As the incidence of malaria changes over time, regular updates of epidemiological data are necessary.

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One of the ways of human parasitic infection is the accidental ingestion of vegetables contaminated with parasites, which represents a major human health hazard. This non-exhaustive review aims to evaluate studies carried out on five types of vegetables (lettuce, parsley, coriander, carrot and radish) since 2000, particularly the methods used for recovery, concentration, detection and identification of protozoan parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp., and the results of each work. Various studies have determined the presence of pathogenic parasites in fresh vegetables with different rates; this variation in rate depends particularly on the detection method used which is related to each parasite and each vegetable type. The variation in parasitic prevalence in food could be due to different factors such as the geographical location, the size of analysed samples and the methods used for parasite detection.

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic infection caused by an intracellular protozoan named Toxoplasma gondii. Its prevalence had been investigated in several studies throughout the world showing that it varied from one country to another. In contrast, few studies had been carried out on this infection across the kingdom of Morocco, hence the objective of this work, which is the determination of Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence in the region of Marrakech-Safi. Methods: The serological results of a cohort of 5692 patients were reviewed retrospectively. Those patients had been into dif- ferent public and private medical laboratories in the region of Marrakech-Safi for a toxoplasmosis serology, requested between the 1st January, 2014 and 31st December, 2016. According to each laboratory, the techniques adopted for this serology were ELISA (ELFA, MEIA, EIA) and CMIA. Results: The results showed that for pregnant women, the overall seroprevalence in the study region were 28.88%. Conclusion: The variation of Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence is related not only to climatic factors but also to lifestyle, eating habits, socio-economic status and hygiene conditions. In this study, we noticed that in Morocco, as in other countries, pregnant women encounter several difficulties when serologic screening for toxoplasmosis. Keywords: Seroprevalence; toxoplasmosis; pregnant women; Marrakech-Safi region.

Background: Protozoan parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia duodenalis, and Cryptosporidium spp., can be transmitted to humans via accidental consumption of contaminated water, fresh produce and foodstuffs. There is a lack of epidemiological data about these pathogens in Morocco. Hence the aim of this study, which is the determination of their prevalence in some leafy greens and root vegetables sold in Marrakech. Methods: A total of 132 vegetable samples including carrot, coriander, lettuce, parsley and radish were purchased monthly from three different markets in Marrakech from March 2017 to January 2018, pre-treated and subjected to microscopic and molecular analyses. Results: Of the 132 samples of vegetables analyzed by qPCR, the overall rate of protozoan was 21.21% (28/132); 22 samples were found to be contaminated with T. gondii, 6 with G. duodenalis, and none was positive for C. parvum/hominis. Whereas, modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining allowed the detection of Cryptosporidium spp. in 3% (4/132) of examined samples. Conclusion: This survey on the presence of protozoan parasites in fresh vegetables revealed that vegetables sold in Marrakech are contaminated by these protozoan parasites, as it showed that leafy green vegetables were more susceptible for parasitic contamination than root ones. Keywords: Fresh vegetables; protozoan parasites; Marrakech; qPCR.