Baseline Study on the Occurrence of Cryptosporidium Spp from Streams Water, after Torrential Rains in Bamenda, Cameroon

Abstract

Oocycts of Cryptosporidia are zoonotic infective stages of Cryptosporidia spp that can easily contaminate the environment if not properly disposed of. Torrential rains would usually wash them into the nearby streams and likely be consumed by humans when the water is used. Cryotosporidiosis in people with suppressed immune systems have no cure as the robust oocycst are not destroyed by chlorination. The aim of this study is to determine the presence of Cryptosporia oocycts in stream water after torrential rains 60 samples of stream water were collected immediately after rain storm in June and July 2014, from 5 streams flowing through Bamenda town. 2 samples of 1.5L were collected from each stream, on 6 different days. Cryptosporidia ssp were present in all the streams but there was no significant difference between their occurrence and the stream’s location, Chi square = 2.605, >0.05The streams flowing through Bamenda town are polluted

Keywords: storm-water, zoonotic, Cryptosporidiosis, chlorination, oocysts