A first for Cryptosporidium testing offers increased consumer protection
Automated Cryptosporidium detection in under five minutes

For the first time Cryptosporidium can be automatically detected in less than five minutes, after sample preparation, following the launch of a new highly sensitive test from Chemunex. Such speed will enable drinking water companies to streamline their quality control procedures considerably, and afford greater protection to consumers against this dangerous parasite. This is particularly pertinent in view of the Drinking Water Inspectorate's (DWI) announcement last week that inadequate treatment of drinking water for Cryptosporidium could lead to criminal prosecution.

Amongst other stringent requirements, the new DWI regulations require continuous sampling and daily analysis of treated water for Cryptosporidium. Current techniques, based on manual microscopy, typically take 30-120 minutes per sample for analysis, depending on the level of debris present. In addition to being extremely time consuming, the manual method is subject to error particular due to operator fatigue associated with hours of microscope analysis.

By automating the detection aspect of the testing using the ChemScan^®RDI analyser, one operator can run approximately 12-15 samples per hour. The automated laser scanning of each sample is complete in 3 minutes. With manual microscopy, this volume of samples could take as much as six hours to analyse. Independent studies have also shown the recovery of oocysts from spiked samples to be consistently higher with the ChemScan system compared to manual microscopy.

The ChemScan RDI provides an option to confirm the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts on the membrane filter using a microscope with a motorised stage that is driven by the system. This automatically locates the co-ordinates of suspected individual oocysts for visual validation, typically taking 5 minutes. Once analysed, membranes can be stored for re-analysis, if required.  

This new rapid technique represents the only automated Cryptosporidium test available today. In addition to improving the sensitivity of Cryptosporidium detection compared to manual microscopy, it has the capability to significantly reduce manpower requirements and costs, remove potential operator errors and allow increased testing at times of need, such as following heavy rain fall and outbreaks.

Cryptosporidium has caused a number of contamination scares over recent years. The parasite causes diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, and is a major public health concern since it can lead to death among individuals with depressed immune systems, children or the elderly. One outbreak in Milwaukee (USA) was responsible for 400,000 cases of infection and caused 100 deaths. There have also been many smaller incidents across Europe, notably on the outskirts of London in 1997, when 100,000 were affected.

Issued on behalf of Chemunex by HCC.De Facto Consultants.
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Notes for editors:
For further information on Cryptosporidium testing, briefing notes and key water industry contacts are available on request.

Chemunex, a biotechnology company listed on both EASDAQ and Euro NM, is a leader in the development and distribution of highly sensitive and rapid testing systems for the detection of microbial contamination in a variety of industrial and consumers products, including pharmaceuticals, drinking water, cosmetics, foods and beverages. The innovative technology developed by the Company over the last five years brings new standards of quality to the industrial microbiology testing business.

This technology includes the ChemScan^®RDI which has been recognised by a number of awards, including the Queen's Award for Technology, as well as recently securing a place in the Millennium Dome as a Millennium Product.

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