Cryptosporidium in foodstuffs - an emerging aetiological route of human foodborne illness

Human cryptosporidiosis has emerged as an important gastrointestinal infection in the 1990s, due to the ingestion of contaminated water and foodstuffs containing the protozoan parasite, Cryptosporidium parvum. This pathogen has particular clinical significance for immunocompromised persons, including AIDS patients and cancer patients receiving toxic chemotherapeutic drug regimens, Employment of contaminated water in the production of foodstuffs may represent an important potential source of entry into food processing, This reviews aims to examine W the incidence of Cryptosporidium parvum in foods and waters, (ii) the association between ingesting contaminated foodstuffs and subsequent development of infection, (iii) detection methods and (iv) processing controls that may be beneficial to the food industry to help reduce or eliminate this parasite from the human foodchain. In addition, the potential of Cryptosporidium as a bioterrorist agent in the foodchain is examined. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.