THE CRYPTONET.IE PROJECT

Cryptosporidium species are the most important newly recognized contaminant of potable water in Europe and USA. Reports indicate that in the UK 50% of surface water and 37% of drinking water was contaminated with Cryptosporidium oocysts. European animal husbandry practices cause large amounts of oocysts to be released into the environment, as Cryptosporidiosis is endemic in farm animals. In humans Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominus cause a debilitating but self-limiting enteritis in immunocompetant individuals but in immunocompromised patients with HIV or organ transplants, young children and old adults the enteritis is invariably fatal. In order to assess risk of Cryptosporidiosis in humans, the role the environment plays in regulating the exposure of the human population to oocysts must be considered. There is limited information in the scientific literature on the efficacy of various soil and catchment systems for filtering and inactivating oocysts. An increased understanding will aid in epidemiological investigations of outbreaks and in predicting spatial and temporal variability of risk to human populations. The scientific objective of Cryptonet.ie is to develop a Cryptosporidium spp. specific Microbial Risk Assessment (MRA) model for catchment waters that can be used to identify when potable water is at high risk of being contaminated.

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