Category Archives: Cryptosporidiosis

Ireland – Boil water notice issued for thousands in Co Longford – Cryptosporidium

Irish Times

crypt

Almost half of the population of Co Longford is subject to a boil water notice which was issued on Thursday.

It comes after the cryptosporidium barrier at a treatment plant was compromised following a deterioration in the raw water quality of the lake source, Irish Water said.

Following consultation with the HSE, Irish Water and Longford County Council decided to issue a boil water notice for the area supplied by the Longford Central Public Water Supply to protect public health.

The population impacted by this notice is approximately 17,500 people. The areas affected include all customers in Longford Town, Newtown Forbes, Balinalee, part of Edgeworthstown, part of Drumlish, part of Killashee and surrounding areas.

Experts from Irish Water and Longford County Council are assessing the situation with a view to having the notice lifted as quickly as possible. In the meantime, all customers of this supply are advised to boil water before use until further notice.

Ireland – WARNING: Boil Water Notice issued to protect 4,000 people in Carrick-on-Suir – Cryptosporidium

Tipperary Live

Irish Water and Tipperary County Council have issued a Boil Water Notice for households, businesses and other customers supplied by the Carrick-on-Suir (Lingaun) Public Water Supply following the detection of cryptosporidium in the water supply.

The Boil Water Notice, announced this evening, was imposed to protect approximately 4,000 people served by this water supply following advice received from the Health Service Executive and it will .

Vulnerable customers who have concerns can contact our customer care team on 1800 278 278.

For customers who wish to check if their property is on the Boil Water Notice themselves, please go to the following link on the Irish Water website: https://www.water.ie/?map= supply-and-service-updates, enter the property’s Eircode and you will then see if your property is on the Boil Water Notice.

Water must be boiled for:

Drinking;
Drinks made with water;
Preparation of salads and similar foods, which are not cooked prior to eating;
Brushing of teeth;
Making of ice – discard ice cubes in fridges and freezers and filtered water in fridges. Make ice from cooled boiled water.
What actions should be taken:

Use water prepared for drinking when preparing foods that will not be cooked (e.g. washing salads);
Water can be used for personal hygiene, bathing and flushing of toilets but not for brushing teeth or gargling;
Boil water by bringing to a vigorous, rolling boil (e.g. with an automatic kettle) and allow to cool. Cover and store in a refrigerator or cold place. Water from the hot tap is not safe to drink. Domestic water filters will not render water safe to drink;
Caution should be taken when bathing children to ensure that they do not swallow the bathing water;
Prepare infant feeds with water that has been brought to the boil once and cooled. Do not use water that has been re-boiled several times. If bottled water is used for the preparation of infant feeds it should be boiled once and cooled. If you are using bottled water for preparing baby food, be aware that some natural mineral water may have high sodium content. The legal limit for sodium in drinking water is 200mg per litre. Check the label on the bottled water to make sure the sodium or `Na’ is not greater than 200mg per litre. If it is, then it is advisable to use a different type of bottled water. If no other water is available, then use this water for as short a time as possible. It is important to keep babies hydrated.
Great care should be taken with boiled water to avoid burns and scalds as accidents can easily happen, especially with children.

Updates will be available on our Water Supply Updates section on water.ie including a map of the affected area, on Twitter @IWCare and via our customer care helpline, open 24/7 on 1800 278 278. Customers are advised to set their location on water.ie to view updates specific to their water supply. Further information in relation to the boil water notice is available from https://www.water.ie/water- supply/water-quality/boil- water-notice/

Irish Water continues to work at this time with our Local Authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard the health and well-being of both staff and the public and to ensure the continuity of critical drinking water and wastewater services. Irish Water would like to remind people to follow the HSE COVID-19 advice and ensure frequent handwashing.

ECDC -Cryptosporidiosis – Annual Report 2018

Click to access CRYP_AER_2018_Report.pdf

EU – Latest Cryptosporidium parasite statistics show rise in Europe

Food Safety News

Infections from the Cryptosporidium parasite are continuing to rise in Europe, according to a report published this month by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Outbreaks associated with food and drink, such as juice, have been reported. The parasites are microscopic and do not make food smell, look or taste unusual.

For 2018, 20 countries reported 14,299 cryptosporidiosis cases, of which 14,252 were confirmed. The number of confirmed patients was more than the 11,435 in 2017. The notification rate for 2018 was higher than in the previous four years from 2014 to 2017.

Germany, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom accounted for 76 percent of all confirmed cases in 2018, with the UK alone making up 41 percent with 5,820 infections.

Research – Cryptosporidiosis – Annual Epidemiological Report for 2018

ECDC

Executive summary

  • For 2018, 20 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries reported 14 299 cryptosporidiosis cases, of which 14 252 were confirmed.
  • The notification rate was 4.4 confirmed cases per 100 000 population.
  • Four countries accounted for 76% of all confirmed cases, with the United Kingdom (UK) alone accounting for 41%.
  • As in previous years, most of the cases were reported in autumn (peak in September), but in 2018 a smaller peak was also observed in spring (April).
  • Children aged 0–4 years had the highest notification rate of 15.8 cases per 100 000 population.

Click to access CRYP_AER_2018_Report.pdf

Research – Is Fresh Produce in Tigray, Ethiopia a Potential Transmission Vehicle for Cryptosporidium and Giardia?

MDPI

CDC Giardia2

In rural Ethiopia, where people often share their homes with their livestock, infections of humans and animals with Cryptosporidium and Giardia are relatively common. One possible transmission route is consumption of contaminated fresh produce; this study investigated the occurrence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in fresh produce in four districts of rural Tigray in Ethiopia. Fresh produce samples (n = 55) were analysed using standard laboratory procedures. Overall, 15% (8/55) of samples were found to be contaminated. Although contamination levels were mostly low, a few samples had high numbers of Giardia cysts (up to around 70 cysts per 30 g sample). Molecular analyses were largely unsuccessful, but Giardia Assemblage A was identified in one sample. Contamination with these parasites was identified in two of the four districts, but, although a similar pattern has already been described for water contamination, this may be at least partially explained by sampling bias. Nevertheless, we speculate that access to clean water sources may be an important factor for reducing the occurrence of these pathogens. Given the public health and veterinary burden associated with both parasites, the factors which are of importance for their circulation in the communities and environments deserve further investigation. View Full-Text

Research Australia – Campylobacter, Salmonella at record highs in Australia

Food Safety News

Record levels of Campylobacter and Salmonella have been recorded in Australia, according to the annual surveillance report of notifiable diseases for 2016.

The data comes from a study published in the most recent edition of the Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal that also found E. coli, Listeria and Cryptosporidium infections had risen.

The role of disease surveillance includes identifying national trends, providing guidance for policy development and resource allocation and informing the response to outbreaks, according to the researchers.

In 2016, gastrointestinal diseases made up 15 percent of total reports for communicable diseases. Notified cases increased by 10 percent to 49,885 in 2016 compared to 2015.

Research – Use of Oxidative Stress Responses to Determine the Efficacy of Inactivation Treatments on Cryptosporidium Oocysts

MDPI

crypto

Cryptosporidium oocysts are known for being very robust, and their prolonged survival in the environment has resulted in outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis associated with the consumption of contaminated water or food. Although inactivation methods used for drinking water treatment, such as UV irradiation, can inactivate Cryptosporidium oocysts, they are not necessarily suitable for use with other environmental matrices, such as food. In order to identify alternative ways to inactivate Cryptosporidium oocysts, improved methods for viability assessment are needed. Here we describe a proof of concept for a novel approach for determining how effective inactivation treatments are at killing pathogens, such as the parasite Cryptosporidium. RNA sequencing was used to identify potential up-regulated target genes induced by oxidative stress, and a reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) protocol was developed to assess their up-regulation following exposure to different induction treatments. Accordingly, RT-qPCR protocols targeting thioredoxin and Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein 7 (COWP7) genes were evaluated on mixtures of viable and inactivated oocysts, and on oocysts subjected to various potential inactivation treatments such as freezing and chlorination. The results from the present proof-of-concept experiments indicate that this could be a useful tool in efforts towards assessing potential technologies for inactivating Cryptosporidium in different environmental matrices. Furthermore, this approach could also be used for similar investigations with other pathogens. View Full-Text

Ireland – A Foodborne Outbreak of Cryptosporidiosis Likely Linked to Salad Leaves

IMJ

Click to access A-Foodborne-Outbreak-of-Cryptosporidiosis-Likely-Linked-to-Salad-Leaves.pdf

Ireland – Boil water notice issued for Clare Island public water supply

Con-telegraph

crypto

FOLLOWING advice from the Health Service Executive, Irish Water and Mayo County Council have issued a boil water notice for the area supplied by the Clare Island public water supply to protect approximately 165 people following a recent drinking water quality test.

The notice has been put in place due to the detection of cryptosporidium in the Clare Island public water supply.

Cryptosporidium is a tiny parasite found in human and animal waste. If it is swallowed (ingested), it can cause a disease called cryptosporidiosis. The symptoms of cryptosporidiosis include fever, stomach upset, weight loss and diarrhoea.

Cryptosporidium may be found in water if it has been contaminated or if there has been a problem with water treatment.