Cyclospora cayetanensis, a food- and waterborne coccidian parasite

Application of a qPCR Assay with Melting Curve Analysis for Detection and Differentiation of Protozoan Oocysts in Human Fecal Samples from Dominican Republic

“…It is not included in routine ova-parasite fecal examinations, oocysts are shed intermittently in low numbers, and they have poor uptake of many histological stains. 2 Both C. cayetanensis and C. belli are probably underreported because of, in part, these factors. 3 Existing molecular methods for detecting Cyclospora can overcome some of the limitations of traditional methods; however, most cannot distinguish between Cyclospora and closely related non-zoonotic Eimeria spp., which may lead to false-positive results.…”

“…Limitations of microscopic methods can include intermittent shedding and need to examine multiple fecal samples, inconsistent staining of oocysts, time required for oocysts to be sporulated for taxonomic identification, and need for parasitology experience to distinguish oocysts from fecal debris. 2 Although several commercial immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) kits are available for Cryptosporidium spp., there are currently none for C. cayetanensis or C. belli. Because of the limited amount of fecal material provided in this study, we opted to perform a simple sucrose flotation to screen all fecal samples for parasites by microscopy followed by qPCR-MCA in the first phase of the project.…”

Cyclospora cayetanensis: First report of imported and autochthonous infections in Kuwait

“…It appears that in endemic areas, persistent exposure may be associated with immunity to illness and asymptomatic excretion [18,19]. Cyclospora oocysts in freshly excreted stool are non-infectious and thus direct person-to-person transmission of Cyclospora spp is highly unlikely as the oocysts require days to weeks outside the host under favourable environmental conditions to sporulate and thus become infectious [4]. The factors that allow C. cayetanensis oocysts to become infectious in the environment and the modes of transmission are not fully understood.…”

“…She also complained of a cough and had a fever of 38. 4 o C. Microscopic analysis of the stool revealed few spherical cystic bodies 8-10 m in diameter. The stained stool smear showed dark red cystic bodies; some cysts were stained deeply red but a few of the cysts did not stain at all.…”

“…However, prevalence rates of Cyclospora are often underestimated because of the low sensitivity of detection methods and the intermittent nature of oocyst shedding. In developed countries, the disease has been associated with cases of traveller's diarrhoea; the parasite is commonly isolated from travellers to Latin America, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia [4][5][6][7][8]. In immunocompetent individuals, very low infection rates of ≤ 1% have been observed.…”