Isolation and identification of parasite in beach sand at Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan / Nur Ezzati Mohd Razif

Sandy beaches are one of examples where simple ecosystems mainly driven by the interplay of physical forces of waves, tides and movement of sediments. It can also be one of the source of parasitic transmission of soil borne parasite within the sandy particles. The purpose of this study is to isolate and identify the parasite present in beach sand at Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan using the flotation method. The samples were obtained from the Teluk Kemang beach from three different site of the beach which are the swash zone, berm zone near the swash and at the end of berm zone near shady trees. Samples collected then proceed with the flotation method to separate the parasites eggs from the sand.The samples then were observed under microscope to identify the parasite species. There are total of five species found from the samples which are Ascaris lumbricoides, Toxocara sp., hookworm, Giardia lamblia, and Dipylidium caninum. These parasites can caused gastrointestinal disease, skin irritation, malnutrition and visceral larval migrans. Results for this research can be used to increase the awareness on the existence of the parasite and increase the cleanliness of the beach. The identification of parasite can be further studied by using agar culture, advanced microscope and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in order to have a strong evidence to categorized the parasite to a specific species.