This study was conducted to determine the control of helminth egg contamination of raw vegetables by washing. A total of 199 unwashed and 199 washed lettuce, parsley, carrots, dill, rocket, and green-peppers, provided by a catering service in Bursa, Turkey, between March and June 2009, were subjected to helminth egg count under light microscopy. Helminth eggs were detected in six (3.0%) unwashed samples and not in any washed samples (p<0.01). Ascaris lumbricoides and Toxocara spp. were detected in four (2.0%) and two (1.0%) unwashed vegetables, respectively, mostly among leafy vegetables such as lettuce and parsley. Our data confirm that washing procedures before consumption of raw vegetables regardless of the providers' sanitation should be performed to avoid transmission of helminths.

Methods: A total of 117 equids (72 horses, 39 donkeys and 6 mules) in Ankara were examined for liver parasites after the slaugthering process. On the other hand, a total of 620 feces of horses in Bursa, Gemlik, Malatya, Eskişehir and Ankara provinces were detected for determining liver trematodes in live equines. The fecal samples of horses were examined for liver fluke infection by Benedect's sedimentation methods.Results: Of these 117 equids, 6 equids (5.1%) were infected with liver flukes. The liver flukes were found only in donkeys. Infection rates were found to be Fasciola hepatica 2.6%, Dicrocoelium dendriticum 12.8% in donkeys.Trematode eggs were encountered in these horses. The distribution of liver fluke infections was found to be very low. For this reason, the importance of the results for the groups of different age (young-old) and sex (male-female) were not determined. Conclusion: This study determinated the prevalance of the liver trematodes to be low in the equines, higher in donkeys than in horses and no clinical signs due to the number of parasites which cause helminthosis. (Turkiye Parazitol Derg 2012; 36: 152-5)