What is Cryptosporidiosis?
Cryptosporidiosis is a disease caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium parvum, which as late as 1976 was not known to cause disease in humans. Until 1993, when over 400,000 people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, became ill with diarrhea after drinking contaminated with the parasite, few people had heard of either crytosporidiosis or the single-celled protozoon that causes it. Since the Milwaukee outbreak, concern over the safety of drinking water in the United States has increased, and new attention has been focused on determining and reducing the risk for cryptosporidiosis from community and municipal water supplies.
Cryptosporidiosis is a disease caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium parvum, which as late as 1976 was not known to cause disease in humans. Until 1993, when over 400,000 people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, became ill with diarrhea after drinking contaminated with the parasite, few people had heard of either crytosporidiosis or the single-celled protozoon that causes it.
Cryptosporidiosis (crypto) is a disease caused by Cryptosporidium parvum, a tiny parasite. Both people and animals may get crypto. The most common symptoms are diarrhea, nausea, fever, stomach cramps, and vomiting. In healthy people, the illness usually lasts 1 to 2 weeks. In people with poor immune systems (those with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or recent organ transplants), the infection may be severe and last longer.
