Many treatment plants that take raw water from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs for public drinking water production use conventional filtration technologies. This involves a series of processes, including coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration. Direct filtration, which is typically used to treat water with low particulate levels, includes coagulation and filtration, but not sedimentation. Other common filtration processes, including slow sand filters, diatomaceous earth filters and membranes will remove 99% of Cryptosporidium. Membranes and bag and cartridge filters remove Cryptosporidium product-specifically. While Cryptosporidium is highly resistant to chlorine disinfection, with high enough concentrations and contact time, Cryptosporidium will be inactivated by chlorine dioxide and ozone treatment. The required levels of chlorine generally preclude the use of chlorine disinfection as a reliable method to control Cryptosporidium in drinking water. Ultraviolet light treatment at relatively low doses will inactivate Cryptosporidium. Water Research Foundation-funded research originally discovered UV's efficacy in inactivating Cryptosporidium. One of the largest challenges in identifying outbreaks is the ability to identify Cryptosporidium in the laboratory. Real-time monitoring technology is now able to detect Cryptosporidium with online systems, unlike the spot and batch testing methods used in the past. The most reliable way to decontaminate drinking water that may be contaminated by Cryptosporidium is to boil it. In the US the law requires doctors and labs to report cases of<unk>  to local or state health departments. These departments then report to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The best way to prevent getting and spreading<unk>  is to have good hygiene and sanitation. An example would be hand-washing. Prevention is through washing hands carefully after going to the bathroom or contacting stool, and before eating. People should avoid contact with animal feces. They should also avoid possibly contaminated food and water. In addition, people should refrain from engaging in sexual activities that can expose them to feces. Standard water filtration may not be enough to eliminate Cryptosporidium; boiling for at least 1 minute (3 minutes above of altitude) will decontaminate it. Heating milk at 71.7 °C (161 °F) for 15 seconds pasteurizes it and can destroy the oocysts' ability to infect. Water can also be made safe by filtering with a filter with pore size not greater than 1 micrometre, or by filters that have been approved for “cyst removal” by NSF International National Sanitation Foundation. Bottled drinking water is less likely to contain Cryptosporidium, especially if the water is from an underground source. People with<unk>  should not swim in communal areas because the pathogen can reside in the anal and genital areas and be washed off. They should wait until at least two weeks after diarrhea stops before entering public water sources, since oocysts can still be shed for a while. Also, they should stay away from immunosuppressed people. Immunocompromised people should take care to protect themselves from water in lakes and streams. They should also stay away from animal stools and wash their hands after touching animals. To be safe, they should boil or filter their water. They should also wash and cook their vegetables. The US CDC notes the recommendation of many public health departments to soak contaminated surfaces for 20 minutes with a 3% hydrogen peroxide (99% kill rate) and then rinse them thoroughly, with the caveat that no disinfectant is guaranteed to be completely effective against Cryptosporidium. However, hydrogen peroxide is more effective than standard bleach solutions.
Cryptosporidiosis
Rhinosporidiosis
Cyclosporiasis
Porcine intestinal spirochaetosis
Isosporiasis
Rotaviral gastroenteritis
Bartonellosis
Travelers' diarrhea