Detection of Infectious Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts from Lamb’s Lettuce: CC–qPCR’s Intake

Sophie Kubina (1, 2) , Damien Costa (2) , Loïc Favennec (2) , Gilles Gargala (2) , Angélique Rousseau (1, 2) , Isabelle Villena (2, 3) , Stéphanie La Carbona (1) , Romy Razakandrainibe (2)

1 ACTALIA [Villers-Bocage]
2 ESCAPE - Epidémiosurveillance de protozooses à transmission alimentaire et vectorielle
3 Hôpital universitaire Robert Debré [Reims]

Cryptosporidium spp. is responsible for several food and waterborne disease outbreaks worldwide. Healthier lifestyles attract consumers to eat, notably, fresh food like fruits and vegetables. The consumption of raw or under-cooked food increases the risk of foodborne transmission of Cryptosporidiosis. The assessment of the consumer’s exposure to Cryptosporidium danger is crucial for public health. Still, the standardized method to detect this parasite in fresh leafy greens and berry fruits has only been available since 2016 and suffers from weaknesses. Consequently, in this study, we propose a method with minimum processing steps that combines cell culture and the quantitative PCR (CC–qPCR) for detecting infectious C. parvum oocysts recovered from lamb’s lettuce. This CC–qPCR is a rapid and easy method that can detect up to one oocyst, whereas it is undetectable by classic qPCR.

Mots clés: Cryptosporidium; oocysts infectivity; detection; fresh vegetables; in vitro method

Domaines: Ingénierie des aliments; Parasitologie

Sophie Kubina, Damien Costa, Loïc Favennec, Gilles Gargala, Angélique Rousseau, et al.. Detection of Infectious Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts from Lamb’s Lettuce: CC–qPCR’s Intake. Microorganisms, 2021, 9 (2), pp.215. ⟨10.3390/microorganisms9020215⟩. ⟨hal-03152168⟩