Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1996 Aug;62(8):2798–2805. doi: 10.1128/aem.62.8.2798-2805.1996

Studies of Giardia spp. and Cryptosporidium spp. in two adjacent watersheds.

C Ong 1, W Moorehead 1, A Ross 1, J Isaac-Renton 1
PMCID: PMC168065  PMID: 8702272

Abstract

Two adjacent British Columbia, Canada, watersheds with similar topographical features were studied. Both the Black Mountain Irrigation District (BMID) and the Vernon Irrigation District (VID) serve rural agricultural communities which are active in cattle ranching. The present study was carried out in five phases, during which a total of 249 surface water samples were tested in the study watersheds. The aims of these phases were to determine levels of parasite contamination in raw water samples collected from the intakes as well as from other sites in each watershed and to investigate cattle in the watersheds as potential sources of parasite contamination of surface drinking water supplies. Giardia cysts were not detected in the raw water samples collected from lake sources at the headwaters of both watersheds but were found in 100% (70 or 70) of water samples collected at the BMID intake and 97% (68 of 70) of water samples collected at the VID intake. Significantly higher levels (P < 0.05) of Giardia cysts were found at the BMID intake (phase 1, 7 to 2,215 cysts per 100 liters; phase 3, 4.6 to 1,880 cysts per 100 liters) when compared with that of the VID intake (2 to 114 cysts per 100 liters). The BMID watershed has a more complex system of surface water sources than the VID watershed. Cattle have access to creeks in the BMID watershed, whereas access is restricted in the VID watershed. Collection of raw water samples from a creek upstream and downstream of a cattle ranch in the BMID watershed showed that the downstream location had significantly higher (P < 0.05) levels (0.6 to 42.9 cysts per 100 liters and 1.4 to 300.0 oocysts per 100 liters) of both Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts than those of the upstream location (0.5 to 34.4 cysts per 100 liters and 0.5 to 34.4 oocysts per 100 liters). Peak concentrations of both parasites coincided with calving activity. Fecal samples, collected from cattle in both watersheds, showed 10% (3 of 30) in the BMID and 50% (5 of 10) in the VID watersheds to be Giardia positive. No Cryptosporidium-positive fecal samples were found. Giardia cysts isolated from the BMID watershed were repeatedly infective to gerbils in contrast to those from the VID watershed. The 10 BMID drinking water Giardia isolates retrieved into culture and biotyped showed zymodeme and karyotype heterogeneity. The differences in patterns of parasite contamination and cattle management practices contribute to the unique watershed characteristics observed between two areas which are topographically similar and geographically adjacent.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (302.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Belosevic M., Faubert G. M., MacLean J. D., Law C., Croll N. A. Giardia lamblia infections in Mongolian gerbils: an animal model. J Infect Dis. 1983 Feb;147(2):222–226. doi: 10.1093/infdis/147.2.222. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Buret A., denHollander N., Wallis P. M., Befus D., Olson M. E. Zoonotic potential of giardiasis in domestic ruminants. J Infect Dis. 1990 Jul;162(1):231–237. doi: 10.1093/infdis/162.1.231. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gottstein B., Nash T. E. Antigenic variation in Giardia lamblia: infection of congenitally athymic nude and scid mice. Parasite Immunol. 1991 Nov;13(6):649–659. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3024.1991.tb00560.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Isaac-Renton J. L., Cordeiro C., Sarafis K., Shahriari H. Characterization of Giardia duodenalis isolates from a waterborne outbreak. J Infect Dis. 1993 Feb;167(2):431–440. doi: 10.1093/infdis/167.2.431. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Isaac-Renton J. L., Fogel D., Stibbs H. H., Ongerth J. E. Giardia and Cryptosporidium in drinking water. Lancet. 1987 Apr 25;1(8539):973–974. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(87)90313-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Isaac-Renton J. L., Shahriari H., Bowie W. R. Comparison of an in vitro method and an in vivo method of Giardia excystation. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1992 May;58(5):1530–1533. doi: 10.1128/aem.58.5.1530-1533.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Isaac-Renton J., Moorehead W., Ross A. Longitudinal studies of Giardia contamination in two community drinking water supplies: cyst levels, parasite viability, and health impact. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1996 Jan;62(1):47–54. doi: 10.1128/aem.62.1.47-54.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. LeChevallier M. W., Norton W. D., Lee R. G. Occurrence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium spp. in surface water supplies. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1991 Sep;57(9):2610–2616. doi: 10.1128/aem.57.9.2610-2616.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lengerich E. J., Addiss D. G., Marx J. J., Ungar B. L., Juranek D. D. Increased exposure to cryptosporidia among dairy farmers in Wisconsin. J Infect Dis. 1993 May;167(5):1252–1255. doi: 10.1093/infdis/167.5.1252. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Moore A. C., Herwaldt B. L., Craun G. F., Calderon R. L., Highsmith A. K., Juranek D. D. Surveillance for waterborne disease outbreaks--United States, 1991-1992. MMWR CDC Surveill Summ. 1993 Nov 19;42(5):1–22. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Ongerth J. E., Stibbs H. H. Identification of Cryptosporidium oocysts in river water. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1987 Apr;53(4):672–676. doi: 10.1128/aem.53.4.672-676.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Sarafis K., Isaac-Renton J. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis as a method of biotyping of Giardia duodenalis. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1993 Jan;48(1):134–144. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1993.48.134. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sauch J. F. Use of immunofluorescence and phase-contrast microscopy for detection and identification of Giardia cysts in water samples. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 Dec;50(6):1434–1438. doi: 10.1128/aem.50.6.1434-1438.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Smith P. D., Gillin F. D., Kaushal N. A., Nash T. E. Antigenic analysis of Giardia lamblia from Afghanistan, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, and Oregon. Infect Immun. 1982 May;36(2):714–719. doi: 10.1128/iai.36.2.714-719.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Upcroft J. A., Upcroft P. Two distinct varieties of Giardia in a mixed infection from a single human patient. J Eukaryot Microbiol. 1994 May-Jun;41(3):189–194. doi: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1994.tb01495.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Xiao L. Giardia infection in farm animals. Parasitol Today. 1994 Nov;10(11):436–438. doi: 10.1016/0169-4758(94)90178-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Xiao L., Herd R. P., Rings D. M. Concurrent infections of Giardia and Cryptosporidium on two Ohio farms with calf diarrhea. Vet Parasitol. 1993 Dec;51(1-2):41–48. doi: 10.1016/0304-4017(93)90194-R. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES