microbe talk extra: cryptosporidium
posted on october 19, 2015 by benjamin thompson
this summer, many people living in lancashire were forced to boil their drinking and cooking water, after an outbreak of a parasite that can cause a nasty bout of stomach cramps and diarrhoea.
this outbreak was caused by the protozoan cryptosporidium, a water-borne parasite that can cause a potentially life-threatening infection in the very young or the immunocompromised.
to learn more about cryptosporidium we spoke to christopher miller, a phd student at the university of kent, who is looking at ways to better culture this poorly-understood parasite.
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