Prevalence of Cryptosporidium Species in Well Water in Ife East Local Government Area, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Background: Cryptosporidium is a water-borne protozoal parasite that infects humans and causes water-borne diarrhoea outbreaks.

Objectives: This cross-sectional study determined the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in wells in Ile-Ife, and assessed the risk factors associated with its presence in well water in Ile-Ife.

Methods: Water samples were collected from 316 wells in the 10 wards that make up Ife East Local Government Area (LGA). A structured questionnaire was used to obtain relevant information on the wells from users. Modified acid-fast staining was used for the phenotypic identification of Cryptosporidium. Nested Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 18S rRNA gene was carried out on the samples positive by staining. Cryptosporidium was confirmed by PCR and sequenced for species identification. Data was analysed using SPSS (version 21.0). Descriptive and inferential statistics were determined. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The results showed that 11 (3.5%) of the 316 sampled wells were positive for Cryptosporidium by acid-fast staining, however only one was positive for Cryptosporidium by Nested PCR and was confirmed as Cryptosporidium parvum by sequencing. However, none of the risk factors investigated were significantly associated with the presence of Cryptosporidium in the well (p>0.05).

Conclusion: The study concluded that Cryptosporidium has low prevalence in wells in Ife East LGA. Cryptosporidium parvum was the species identified in the study area.