title: Comparison of staining and concentration techniques for detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in cat faecal specimens.
abstract: Modified Ziehl-Neelsen (MZN), auramine-phenol (A-P) and fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled (FITC-labelled) monoclonal antibody (MAb) techniques were compared for detection of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in cat faecal specimens inoculated with known numbers of C. parvum oocysts. Of the three techniques, the FITC-labelled MAb technique detected more oocysts than the MZN and A-P techniques (P < 0.05), but A-P was more efficient than MZN (P < 0.05). Comparison of sucrose flotation, zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) flotation and formol-ether (F-E) sedimentation techniques revealed that F-E was the most efficient of the three (P < 0.05) for concentration of C. parvum oocysts from cat faecal specimens. On average, the F-E technique recovered 37% of oocysts from the original sample, whereas the sucrose and ZnSO4 flotation techniques recovered 33% and 11%, respectively. The findings of this study suggest that MZN and A-P staining are both useful for screening C. parvum oocysts in cat faecal materials containing 10(6) oocysts or more, but FITC-labelled MAb should be used when the number of oocysts is low. Also, the F-E sedimentation technique is recommended for concentrating oocysts in cat faecal specimens.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002415:Cats; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010270:Parasite Egg Count / Q000662:veterinary; D013194:Staining and Labeling