Multiattribute Evaluation of Two Simple Tests for the Detection of Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts in Calf Feces

Abstract

Cryptosporidium parvum is increasingly recognized as an important pathogen in neonatal dairy calves. As a result, there is a need for simple, inexpensive and quick methods for the detection of C. parvum infection in calf feces. Most diagnostic and screening methods for this parasite that are currently in common use, such as concentration and staining methods and immunofluorescence (Kvac et al, 2003), are expensive and time-consuming, and as such are unsuitable for the screening of large numbers offecal samples in veterinary practice or research. At the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), a simple sucrose wet mount method without centrifugation has been in use for some time. However, to the authors' knowledge, there are no published reports that have evaluated the performance and utility of this method when used for the detection of C. parvum oocysts in calf feces. In this study, the OVC sucrose wet mount method and a lateral immunochromatography test for detection of C. parvum antigen in feces (BioX Diagnostics, Jem~lle, Belgium) were evaluated using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) with gel electrophoresis as a gold standard.