Monitoring of Cryptosporidium in urban waters in Spain.

• Although its control is not mandatory, implementing its monitoring helps prevent the occurrence of this disease.
• GOservicios is the first private laboratory capable of detecting it through a complex procedure accredited by ENAC.
• The protozoan Cryptosporidium, which can cause gastroenteritis, can be found in water and contaminated food.

GOservicios, the private water laboratory of the Global Omnium group, is the first accredited by ENAC (National Accreditation Entity) to detect the microscopic parasite that causes gastroenteritis and whose presence can be monitored and prevented through routine water quality controls. This parasite not only appears in water networks but can also be present in fountains or parks where water accumulates.

 

Several cities in Spain have already contacted GOservicios to formalize and implement preventive analyses to ensure proper prevention of gastroenteritis, diarrhea, vomiting, or fever typically caused by Cryptosporidium, which can be found in water and food contaminated by this protozoan.

 

“It is a protozoan usually found in untreated water, and if it enters the water network or someone ingests it, it can cause gastroenteritis,” explains Juan Francisco Maestre, director of Global Omnium Servicios, who adds that “it is not usually sought in routine analyses, only under two circumstances that advise it: if another bacterium appears or if there is a certain degree of water turbidity.”

 

The head of Innovation, Ester Méndez, points out that it should be taken into account that if infected animals defecate on the street or near a fountain, the parasite can return to the water, and in summer or during hot weather, children and animals enter these fountains.

 

“Then we face the problem that the outbreak may no longer be small, but may eventually spread,” Méndez notes, adding that based on the laboratory’s identification, decisions can be made about whether to accelerate water disinfection or increase the amount of disinfectant to eliminate the parasite.

 

Comprehensive Water Control Laboratory

GOservicios, located in the GOlab – Water Technology Center, which concentrates all the company’s technological services division – is the laboratory that conducted wastewater monitoring during the coronavirus pandemic to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2. It also conducts research to anticipate future significant public health problems. This early warning tool marked a turning point in the strategy against the virus.

 

“We have many research lines trying to detect new emerging contaminants, such as drugs or pharmaceuticals in wastewater,” says Maestre, noting that techniques like sequencing wastewater samples allow for assessing the health status of cities.

 

Specifically, visualizing Cryptosporidium under a microscope, made possible thanks to immunofluorescence, requires following a complex procedure that, with ENAC accreditation, guarantees the technical competence of this laboratory.