A Rapid Collection And Detection Method For

Studies have found Cryptosporidium parvum (C. parvum) oocysts in 65-97% of surface water tested inthe United States. The current Surface Water Treatment Rule does not include analysis for C. parvum.However, the increased incidence of outbreaks involving Cryptosporidiosis have instigated aninvestigation into whether or not testing should be included in the Enhanced Surface Water TreatmentRule. The Information Collection Rule (ICR) is undertaking this task at present. The ICR was delayedfor more than a year based on the necessity to access the adequacy of the analytical method used tocollect data on Cryptosporidium. It is determined that the method was labor intensive and requiredlengthy processing time. The testing requires expertise in microscopy and parasitology. The presentICR method has erratic recovery, sensitivity and specificity. Consequently, water contaminated withC. parvum could yield negative results.This proposed project is directed toward demonstrating the feasibility of using a novel self-containedparticle (SCIP) assay device to detect C. parvum in water samples. The assay is based on affinitychromatography, nucleic acid extraction, isothermal amplification and visual detection. The assay willbe easy to perform, requiring little instrumentation and will be completed, on site, in about 3 hours.