Detection of Water Borne Protozoa

Protozoa of several species play a key role in water borne outbreaks of diarrhea worldwide. Identification of such protozoa depends mainly on parasite detection. However, water contains several hundreds of thousands of microorganisms belonging to different taxa. The exact identification of pathogenic protozoa relies on selective isolation and detection that is conducted by experienced technicians. Advanced techniques such as immuno-fluorescent dyes, polymerase chain reaction, and many other techniques, may be used for species-specific identification of pathogenic protozoa. Each diagnostic technique has defined sensitivity and specificity and the decision to use certain techniques depends on several practicalities such as reason for analysis, sample size, time, cost, and logistic requirements. In this work we present and discuss existing criteria for the differentiation of waterborne parasitic protozoa from other organisms in the aquatic environment.