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- Title
An outbreak of waterborne cryptosporidiosis caused by post-treatment contamination.
- Authors
Smith, H. V.; Patterson, W. J.; Hardie, R.; Greene, L. A.; Benton, C.; Tulloch, W.; Gilmour, R. A.; Girdwood, R. W. A.; Sharp, J. C. M.; Forbes, G. I.
- Abstract
An outbreak of waterborne cryptosporidiosis affecting 27 persons, diagnosed stool positive, occurred in Ayrshire in April 1988. Twenty-one of the 27 confirmed cases required some form of fluid replacement therapy. Local general practitioners indicated a two- to fivefold increase in diarrhoeal disease during the outbreak, and following enquiries made by Environmental Health Officers it became apparent that many hundreds of people had suffered a diarrhoeal illness at that time. Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts were detected in the treated chlorinated water supply system, in the absence of faecal bacterial indicators. Oocyst contamination of a break-pressure tank containing final water for distribution was the cause of this waterborne outbreak. An irregular seepage of oocyst-containing water, which increased during heavy rains, was the cause of the break-pressure tank contamination, rather than a failure of the water-treatment processes. The waterborne route should be considered when clusters of cryptosporidiosis associated with potable water occur. Waterborne cryptosporidiosis can occur in the absence of other faecal indicators of contamination.
- Publication
Epidemiology & Infection, 1989, Vol 103, Issue 3, p703
- ISSN
0950-2688
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1017/S0950268800031101