ANCYLOSTOMA DUODENALE SEPERATED FROM CONTAMINATED SOIL SHAHIDA AZHAR ALI 1 , TANVEER AKHTAR 2 , AZHAR MAQBOOL 3 , AMMARA HUSSAN 4 & SAMMAN IKRAM 5 1,2,4&5 Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan 3 Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan ABSTRACT Soil samples showed an overall prevalence 1.79 % of Ancylostoma duodenale‟s eggs in six slums of Lahore, Punjab from Nov 2006 to Oct 2008. Significant prevalence was observed in Missrisha (0.89 %) followed by Bhutto Colony (0.83 %) , Siddiquia Colony (0.72 %), Khairdin Park (0.53 %), Sheikhupura Road (0.39 %) whereas lowest in Scheme No 2 ( 0.22 %) respectively. Season wise high prevalence was observed in autumn (3.92 %), summer (1.88 %) and winter (1.29 %) as compared to spring (0.50 %). Month wise highest prevalence (4.83 %) was observed in October followed by 3.67 % in September that gradually decreased to 0.83 % in December and declined to 0.50 % in March respectively. Demographic data showed 33.47 % people used gurkies / pit, 27 % defecated in open fields, 23 % had very poor sewerage system and 14.52 % availed satisfactory sewage conditions. Children who had habit of pica (10.50 %), nail biting (12.51%), sucking thumb (11 %), did not wash hand before meal (12.10 %), after defecation (21.76 %), walked bare footed (25.51 %) and used junk food (7.54 %) were found respectively. KEYWORDS: Ancylostomiaisis, Prevalence, Slums, Gurkies, Defecation Part of Ph.D thesis of first author INTRODUCTION Ancylostomiaisis was a widely spread parasitic disease in tropical and subtropical areas (Jiraanankul et al. (2012) caused by A. duodenale exclusively man parasite, a soil transmitted helminth (STHs) (CDC, 2012), especially in areas with poor sanitary conditions (Shaikh et al. (2009) ; Ziegelbaueret al. (2012 ). One quarter of the world population i.e. Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe and South East Asia (de Silva et al. (2003) were infected with hookworms (Hotez et al., 2004). out of 122 million, 21 million children of age 1-5 years old were found infected with hookworm, (Kirwan et al. (2009), 4-15 years of agein India (Norhayati et al. (2003), (52%) hookworm prevalence (Verle et al. (2003) was present in school going children and decreased with age (Clements et al. (2010) and caused about 22.1 million disabilities annually in the world (Kirwan et al. (2009). Larvae of A.duodenale survive for several weeks in dirt (WHO, 2011), could also reside in dogs, cats etc and they acted as paratenic host till they find their way to final host (Brinksworth et al. (2000), it constituted a significant risk for public health (Kollataj et al. (2012). Ancylostomiaisis was more common in 2-7 years old children due to habit of pica (Al Mekhlafi et al. (2008) and those who did not wash their hands after defecation and before meal (Speare et al. (2006) ; Mehmood et al. (2009) ; Khanum et al. (2010). A. duodenale„s eggs from soil could be transferred onto vegetables (Maipanich et al. (2004) when children eat these contaminated raw vegetables (Ulukanligi et al. (2001) they might have helminthiasis. In Argentina from city of Resistencia, from 5 public places , 475 soil samples, 17 from kindergarten sandpits and 124 from housing estates were collected, high prevalence of ancylostoma‟s eggs were observed in 20 % contaminated public park playgrounds with a value of 100%, followed 19.4% found in housing estates and 11.8% in kindergarten samples (Alonso et al. (2001). Increased urbanization and population density was directly proportionate to STH infection (Brooker et al. (2006). 288 faecal samples were collected and observed in 2000-2006 from International Journal of Zoology and Research (IJZR) ISSN 2278–8816 Vol.3, Issue 2, Jun 2013, 27-38 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.