Prevalence of Salmonella, Shigella and intestinal parasites in food handlers in Irbid, Jordan.

During a one-year period, 283 food handlers in Irbid, Jordan were investigated for the presence of potential enteropathogens in their stools. The prevalence rate of enteropathogens among non-Jordanian food handlers (48.0%) was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than that of the Jordanian group (12.3%). The isolation rates of Salmonella and Shigella were 6% and 1.4% respectively. Multi-drug resistance was frequent among isolates of Salmonella group B and Shigella spp. Intestinal parasites detected in the stools of food handlers included Ascaris lumbricoides (4.9%), Giardia lamblia (3.9%), Schistosoma mansoni, (2.8%), hookworms 2.5%, Hymenolyepis nana (1.8%), Trichuris trichiura (1.1%), Entamoeba histolytica (0.7%), and Taenia saginata (0.4%). This study emphasises the importance of food handlers, particularly the non-Jordanians, in Jordan, as potential source of food-borne infection.