Prevalence of enteropathogens in stools of rural Maasai children under five years of age in the Maasailand region of the Kenyan Rift Valley.

Stool samples were collected during August 1994 from seventy rural Maasai children under the age of five years who were living in the Maasailand region of the Kenyan Rift Valley. Microbiological analysis was carried out on these samples to identify which intestinal pathogens were present among the infant population of the Maasai. Of the samples studied 54% were pathogen positive. The most common pathogen isolated was Giardia lamblia which was detected in 31% of the samples. Other pathogens that were detected include: Entamoeba histolytica (23%), Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (13%), Strongyloides stercoralis (4%), Blastocystis hominis (3%) and Cryptosporidium sp (3%). Although all samples were screened for Campylobacter and rotavirus, neither pathogen was detected. Water samples were taken from all the water sources in the study area and analysed microbiologically. Results showed that all the sources were contaminated with the faecal E. coli whose populations ranged from 14 CFU/100 ml to greater than 1800 CFU/100ml.