Towards a consensus on genotyping schemes for surveillance and outbreak investigations of Cryptosporidium, Berlin, June 2016

This report outlines the evidence and main conclusions presented at an expert workshop on Cryptosporidium genotyping held on 16 and 17 June 2016, hosted by the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, and funded by EU COST Action FA1408 "A European Network for Foodborne Parasites: Euro-FBP" (http://www.euro-fbp.org). The consultation brought together 23 scientists and experts in public and animal health from 12 European countries and the United States (US) to discuss how Cryptosporidium spp. surveillance and outbreak investigations could benefit from a harmonised approach to intra-species differentiation of the two main human pathogens, C. parvum and C. hominis. These are major zoonotic and anthroponotic causes of gastroenteritis, respectively. There is currently no standardised genotyping scheme for these protozoan parasites. The workshop was organised in two parts: firstly, specialists described the current state of knowledge and need, and secondly, four working groups considered different aspects of the development, implementation and maintenance of Cryptosporidium genotyping schemes.