Quality assurance considerations for detection of waterborne zoonotic parasites using Cryptosporidium oocyst detection as the main example

A laboratory quality assurance (QA) program can minimize errors and provide confidence in the validity of laboratory test results. The structure of a QA program varies somewhat among laboratories but usually requires addressing a QA manual, QA goals, quality of resources, standard operating procedures, internal quality control, and external QA procedures. This paper reviews these general components and discusses some of the more particular QA considerations specific to filtration, immunomagnetic separation (IMS), immunofluorescence microscopy (FA), vital dye staining, differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, and molecular methods, which are involved in the detection and enumeration of Cryptosporidium oocysts.