International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS) Vol. 11, No. 4, December 2022, pp. 1516~1524 ISSN: 2252-8806, DOI: 10.11591/ijphs.v11i4.21875  1516 Journal homepage: http://ijphs.iaescore.com Bacterial and parasitic contamination of raw vegetable: potential risk for food-borne diseases Diana C. Mufida 1 , Yunita Armiyanti 3 , Elvia Rahmi M. Putri 2 , Dini Agustina 1 , Enny Suswati 1 , Muhammad A. Shodikin 1 , Wiwien S. Utami 3 , Bagus Hermansyah 3 , Angga M. Raharjo 4 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jember, Jember, Indonesia 2 Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jember, Jember, Indonesia 3 Department of Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jember, Jember, Indonesia 4 Department of Public Health Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jember, Jember, Indonesia Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: Received Mar 11, 2022 Revised Aug 23, 2022 Accepted Sep 8, 2022 Food-borne diseases can be transmitted through raw vegetables contaminated with bacteria and intestinal parasites. The study aimed to determine bacteria and intestinal parasites that contaminate raw vegetables in traditional markets. In this study, we collected raw vegetables from eight traditional markets. We chose randomly at each market five samples of vegetables that usually consumed in raw, like lettuce, tomato, cabbage, basil, long bean, and cucumber. The bacteria were identified by culture and microbiological test and the intestinal parasites were identified using sedimentation and floatation methods. This study showed that all of raw vegetables were contaminated with Escherichia coli (E. coli) (91%), Staphylococcus aureus (84%), and Vibrio cholera (79%). Besides bacteria, 36% of samples were contaminated by soil-transmitted helminths (STH), and intestinal protozoa contaminated 27% of samples. Lettuce was the most contaminated vegetable with bacteria and intestinal parasites. The results of this study proved that there was bacterial contamination as well as intestinal parasites in raw vegetables sold in traditional markets which could be a source of spread of food-borne diseases. Therefore, handling raw vegetables properly is needed as an effort to prevent it. Keywords: Food microbe Food safety Food-borne disease Intestinal parasite Raw vegetables This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license. Corresponding Author: Elvia Rahmi Marga Putri Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jember Jl. Kalimantan Tegalboto No.37, Krajan Timur, Sumbersari, Jember, Indonesia Email: elviarahmi@unej.ac.id 1. INTRODUCTION Food-borne disease is a group of infectious diseases transmitted by food that brought the pathogen (viruses, bacteria, or parasites). The main symptom that often occurs from food-borne diseases is diarrhea. Based on world health organization (WHO) report in 2020, 550 million people get sick due to diarrhea and fever. Several cases can cause severe dehydration or systemic infection like sepsis that have a high mortality rate up to 230,000 death every year, especially in vulnerable population such as geriatric or children under five years old [1], [2]. Jember is a Regency in East Java, Indonesia, which has high incidence of food borne illness, like diarrhea and thypoid. From primary healthcare data in Jember Regency, reported cases of diarrhea as much as 48,582 cases, and there is an increase of Thypoid cases in all district, up to 4.3% in 2018-2019 [3]. Diarrhea and typhoid were transmitted through contaminated food with those pathogens. Fresh vegetable that contaminated with bacteria and intestinal parasite and eaten raw or not yet cooked optimally, can be transmission media for food-borne diseases [4]. Some pathogens had been found in