On February 20, 2015, a northeastern university’s student health center was notified of five veterinary medicine students with gastrointestinal symptoms. An investigation was conducted to establish the existence of an outbreak, determine the etiology, evaluate risk factors, and recommend control measures.
All five students had attended a training session at the university’s bovine obstetrics laboratory on February 13, which included the handling of two euthanized calves. Patient symptoms, date of onset, and history of calf exposure suggested cryptosporidiosis. Infection with Cryptosporidium, a protozoa that causes watery diarrhea and is transmitted by infectious oocysts via the fecal-oral route (1), is common among calves (2). Symptoms in humans typically begin 7 days (range = 2–10 days) after infection and include intermittent abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, fever, and weight loss, lasting approximately 1–2 weeks (3).
Two calves used in the training sessions had been euthanized and frozen at -1.4°F (-17.0°C) on February 11. Approximately 28 hours later, the calves were thawed and detergent-washed by laboratory staff in accordance with standard protocols. Necropsies were performed on both animals on February 23, and revealed Cryptosporidium oocysts on an acid-fast stain of an intestine smear from one of the calves.
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