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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #366587
Research Project: Detection and Control of Foodborne Parasites for Food Safety

Location: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory

Title: Use of bivalve Dreissena polymorpha as biomonitoring tool to reflect the protozoan load in freshwater bodies.

Author
item GEBA, ELODIE - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne
item AUBERT, DOMINIQUE - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne
item DURAND, LOIC - Actallica
item ESCOTTE, SANDY - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne
item LA CARBONA, STEPHANIE - Actallica
item CAZEAUX, CATHERINE - Actallica
item B0NNARD, ISABELLE - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne
item BASTIEN, FANNY - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne
item PALOS LADEIRO, MELISSA - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne
item Dubey, Jitender
item VILLENA, ISABELLE - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne
item GEFFARD, ALAIN - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne
item BIGOT-CLIVOT, AURELIE - Universite De Reims Champagne-Ardenne

Submitted to: Water Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/8/2019
Publication Date: 11/9/2019
Citation: Geba, E., Aubert, D., Durand, L., Escotte, S., La Carbona, S., Cazeaux, C., Bonnard, I., Bastien, F., Palos Ladeiro, M., Dubey, J.P., Villena, I., Geffard, A., Bigot-Clivot, A. 2019. Use of bivalve Dreissena polymorpha as biomonitoring tool to reflect the protozoan load in freshwater bodies. Water Research. 170:115297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.115297.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.115297

Interpretive Summary: Ingestion of food and water fecally-contaminated with pathogenic protozoa (Cyclospora, Cystoisospora, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma) can cause severe gastrointestinal disorders in humans and animals. Detection of these protozoans in water or fruits and vegetables is difficult. To overcome this, a USDA team and collaborators used a freshwater bivalve mollusc, the zebra mussel, as a means to monitor water contamination. This approach was chosen because the muscle can concentrate and retain, for weeks, such protozoa, allowing them to provide information about contamination during a prolonged interval. The method was determined to detect even very low levels of contamination. These findings will be of interests to public health workers, water quality officials, biologists, epidemiologists, and parasitologists.

Technical Abstract: Cryptosporidium parvum, Toxoplasma gondii and Giardia duodenalis are worldwide pathogen protozoa recognized as major parasites of waterborne outbreaks. To overcome normative process (ISO 15553/2006) limitations of protozoan detection in aquatic system, we propose to use a freshwater bivalve mollusc, the zebra mussel, as protozoan contamination biomonitoring tool. Method developed allowed the detection of low levels of T. gondii and G. duodenalis in tissues of Dreissena polymorpha: between 1-5 oocysts /mussel and few than 1 cyst/mussel respectively. Mussels were exposed to three concentrations of C. parvum oocysts, G. duodenalis cysts or T. gondii oocysts for 21 days followed by 21 days of depuration in clear water. Results underlines the capacity of D. polymorpha to accumulate protozoa in their tissues and haemolymph. Percentage of positive mussel to protozoa can reflect the contamination level in water bodies for T. gondii and G. duodenalis. Concerning C. parvum detection, oocysts were accumulated in zebra mussel tissues and haemolymph but in small quantities and the limit of detection of the protozoan is between 50 and 100 oocysts. The bivalve ability to integrate the three protozoa contaminations for some weeks during depuration period make them a good integrative matrix for biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystem.