Cryptosporidium as a Foodborne Pathogen

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vi

   PDF

2. Introduction to Cryptosporidium: The Parasite and the Disease

   • Lucy J. Robertson

   Pages 1-10

3. Transmission Routes and Factors That Lend Themselves to Foodborne Transmission

   • Lucy J. Robertson

   Pages 11-12

4. Documented Foodborne Outbreaks of Cryptosporidiosis

   • Lucy J. Robertson

   Pages 13-23

5. Approaches to Detecting Cryptosporidium Oocysts in Different Food Matrices

   • Lucy J. Robertson

   Pages 25-38

6. Occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in Different Food Matrices: Results of Surveys

   • Lucy J. Robertson

   Pages 39-56

7. Inactivation or Decontamination Procedures

   • Lucy J. Robertson

   Pages 57-63

8. Risk Assessment and Regulations

   • Lucy J. Robertson

   Pages 65-70

9. Future Challenges

   • Lucy J. Robertson

   Pages 71-72

10. Conclusions

    • Lucy J. Robertson

    Pages 73-74

11. Back Matter

    Pages 75-90

    PDF

Although widely recognized as an important waterborne pathogen, Cryptosporidium spp. can also be transmitted by contamination of food. The same properties of this protozoan parasite that mean that water is an excellent transmission vehicle are also important for foodborne transmission. These include the low infective dose, the high number of oocysts that are excreted, and the robustness of these transmission stages. However, many more outbreaks of waterborne cryptosporidiosis have been reported than foodborne outbreaks. This is probably partly due to epidemiological tracing being much more difficult for foodborne outbreaks than waterborne outbreaks, and the number of persons exposed to infection often being fewer. Nevertheless, the potential importance of foodborne transmission is gradually being recognized, and a wide range of different foodstuffs have been associated with those outbreaks that have been recorded. Additionally, various factors mean that the potential for foodborne transmission is becoming of increasing importance: these include the growth of international food trade, a current trend for eating raw or very lightly cooked foods, and the rise in small-scale organic farms, where there the possibility for contamination of vegetable crops with animal feces may be greater.

• Cryptosporidium
• Giardia duodenalis
• foodborne pathogen
• transmission
• waterborne pathogen

• Institute for Food Safety & Infection Biology, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo, Norway

  Lucy J. Robertson

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