Animal Waste, Water Quality and Human Health

Exposure interventions 301(Chapter 3), transport interventions (Chapter 6), public health education regardingthe risks associated with the consumption of unwashed/uncooked vegetables,personal hygiene, and exclusion of animals and individuals with symptoms ofgastrointestinal illness from recreational water venues.Figure 8.1 Confirmed E. coli O157:H7 isolates from the United Kingdom and Republic ofIreland, 1984–2008.8.4.6 CryptosporidiumIn Scotland, 600–900 laboratory-confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis are reportedto Health Protection Scotland (HPS) each year. The infection is typicallyassociated with bloating, abdominal pain, nausea and prolonged diarrhea. Whilethe illness is normally self-limiting, a recent study has shown it can lead toserious health sequelae and may even be fatal (Hunter et al. 2004, Caccio et al.2005). Infection is frequently disseminated by person-to-person transmission, byanimals, and indirectly through the environment (particularly by water). Indeed,drinking-water contaminated by oocysts is an internationally recognized riskfactor for human disease (McAnulty et al. 2000, Goh et al. 2005).Within the past ten years, two large outbreaks of waterborne cryptosporidiosishave occurred in Scotland: 90 confirmed cases in Glasgow in the year