[Diarrhea in urban agricultural workers in Nouakchott in Mauritania]

Nearly 200 million people in the developing world are dependent or urban gardening for food and income. This practice has been accelerated by the droughts of recent decades which have forced more and more migrants into urban areas. Numerous potential health hazards have been attributed to urban gardening but the exact risks in Sahelian areas remain unclear. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the incidence of diarrhea at the Tel Zatar gardening site in urban Nouakchott, Mauritania. In addition, a case-control study was carried out to identify risk factors for diarrhea in function of gardeners' activity and living conditions. Statistical analysis was performed using univariate and logistical regression methods. The annual incidence of diarrhea ranged from 6.9 (IC95 p. 100 = 5.0-8.8) to 8.5 (IC95 p. 100 = 6.2-10.8) episodes per gardener and year. Multivariate analysis identified four significant risk factors. Two of these factors were unrelated to gardening, i.e., not having spent more than USD 3.50 the previous day (odds ratio (OR = 2.8, IC95 p. 100 = 1.01-7.81) and poor food hygiene (cooking outside (OR = 4.69, IC95 p. 100 = 1.06-20.83). The other two factors were regular consumption of raw vegetables (OR = 25.5, IC95 p. 100 = 2.0-32.0) and use of untreated well water (OR = 3.85, IC95 p. 100 = 1.08-14.29). Unprotected well water was the cause of 59.2 p. 100 of diarrheal episodes reported by gardeners at Tel Zatar. The results of this study confirm that vegetable production in urban gardens such as Tel Zatar is associated with health risks. Public health measures should address not only the garden sites but also domestic hygiene.