Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were stored in 1-ml aliquots of filtered river water at −20, 4, 10, and 21–23 C in the dark. Oocysts were also added to filter-sterilized river water samples and stored at 21–23 C. The infectivity of oocysts stored under different conditions was assayed at weekly intervals through infection of human adenocarcinoma ileocecal (HCT-8) cell monolayers. Wells containing between 10 and 100 foci of infection were enumerated by immunofluorescent microscopy, and the number of infective oocysts was calculated. No infectious oocysts were detected after 1 wk at −20 C. The number of infective oocysts stored at 4 C decreased 5-fold, and the number of those stored at 10 C decreased 2.5-fold after 14 wk. The infectivity of oocysts stored in potassium dichromate (positive control) at 4 C decreased 2-fold over 14 wk. The number of infective oocysts in filter-sterilized and non–filter-sterilized river water stored at 21–23 C decreased by 3.3 and 2.6 log units, respectively, over 12 wk, and no foci of infection were detected at 14 wk. The results show that as temperature increased from 4 to 23 C, the duration of oocyst infectivity decreased.
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1 June 2002
Influence of Temperature on Cryptosporidium parvum Oocyst Infectivity in River Water Samples as Detected by Tissue Culture Assay
Nicholas J. Pokorny,
Susan C. Weir,
Ramon A. Carreno,
Jack T. Trevors,
Hung Lee
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