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Susceptibility of Chesapeake Bay to Environmental Contamination with Cryptosporidium parvum
– Recovery of the Pathogen by Eastern Oysters
The protozoan
Cryptosporidium parvum has emerged as a major aquatic pathogen in coastal aquatic systems and has raised concerns about human health. Outbreaks in municipal water supplies have caused sickness in some communities in the United States and throughout the world. The source of contamination generally is water that has received human or animal (typically cattle) wastes. There is evidence that this pathogen may be present at some sites in Chesapeake Bay, though not necessarily in concentrations harmful to human health. Preliminary data have demonstrated that oysters are capable of filtering and retaining oocysts (the resting stage) and hence could be a potential reservoir for human infection. This possibility will be explored by a multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Thaddeus Graczyk.
Though several different
Cryptosporidium species may be prevalent in the Bay, only
C. parvum is known to be a human pathogen. Graczyk's team has pioneered the use of novel molecular methods to specifically identify
C. parvum and they will use these techniques in studies of sites around the Bay where the potential for contamination is thought to exist. This project will provide the first definitive picture of the prevalence of
C. parvum in Chesapeake Bay and will yield standardized methodologies for identifying the organism in oyster tissue. Together, these results will help provide the first realistic assessment of the risk this organism poses for the oyster fishery and in the Bay.
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Thaddeus K. Graczyk
The Johns Hopkins University
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