Battelle Supports International Effort to Combat
Water-borne Pathogen

In the past decade, Cryptosporidia in drinking water has emerged as a significant world-wide health threat. The efforts of an international collaboration may soon provide water treatment centers around the world with an effective means of finding and destroying these parasites. The Battelle-managed Environmental Technology Commercialization Center (ETC²) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will play a significant role in helping the collaborators transfer technologies to agencies charged with treating water.

Cryptosporidium, a protozoan parasite, causes diarrhoeal disease in humans. Although individuals with normal immune systems usually recover after several days, the disease can be much more serious for immuno-compromised individuals. Transplant patients, the elderly, those on immuno-suppressive therapy, or with Acquired Immuno-Deficiency syndrome (AIDS) can suffer a prolonged, life-threatening, cholera-like illness.

The pathogen can be transmitted from person to person, in water or food. Cryptosporidia are small, extremely difficult to detect in drinking water supplies, and resistant to traditional disinfection methods. Even when oocysts are found, it is difficult to determine whether they are viable or inactive.

Developing a standardized cell culture method for viability testing would provide a valuable tool in the battle against cryptosporidiosis outbreaks. Representatives from EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL), the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) of the United Kingdom (UK), the UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR), KIWA of the Netherlands, the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), and the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AwwaRF) met in February 2001 and developed a two-stage project to test and identify an optimum cell culture assay and then to apply the technology in ultra violet disinfection studies.

The Environmental Technology Commercialization Center (ETC²) worked with NERL and AwwaRF, the representatives of the international collaboration, to establish a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) for the project. The CRADA is essential to development of a standardized method. To determine the accuracy of a variety of cell culture methods, uniform samples must be prepared and then analyzed using the different methods.

With an organism as small as a Cryptosporidium oocyst, preparation of uniform samples is difficult. The NERL research group is one of only a handful in the world that could prepare the required samples. Through the CRADA, AwwaRF and its international colleagues will have access to the expertise of NERL researcher Dr. Frank Schaefer and to world-class facilities and instrumentation. Dr. Schaefer and his NERL colleagues will prepare water samples spiked with Cryptosporidia to be tested by various laboratories practicing cell culture methods.

For more information contact Kathryn Iwamasa at (216) 898-6416, iwamasak@battelle.org or visit www.etc2.org.