Cryptosporidium parvum
C.parvum is a category 2, zoonotic pathogen. It is infective by ingestion to most mammals, causing mild to severe diarrhoea, abdominal pain and nausea. There is no effective treatment. Moredun can produce batches of C. parvum oocysts, by infecting donor neonatal lambs with oocysts of cervine origin. Faecal material is collected from the lambs and is purified by sedimentation and differential centrifugation to produce the final product.
Moredun can supply oocysts to both research facilities and commercial companies. The oocysts can be purchased as viable or non-viable (heat inactivated) depending on the requirements of the company. The oocysts are supplied in PBS (with or without antibiotics) at the concentration requested by the client. The viability of each batch of oocysts is assessed by in-vitro excystation.
We recommend that all oocysts are used within three months of purchase as the viability cannot be guaranteed after this time. Heat inactivated oocysts are less stable over extended periods of time that viable oocysts.
Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts are available from the Moredun Research Institute. Please contact crypto@moredun.ac.uk to discuss your requirements.