Efficacy of Commercial Cleansing Procedures in Eliminating Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts from Bivalves

HELLFISH is one of the most important aquaculture productsof Portugal yielding approximately 5,000tons/yr (Direcc¸a˜oGeral das Pescas, www.dg-pescas.pt, July 2006). Seafood is anexcellent natural resource which is common in the Portuguese dietand is in high demand by tourists. Some shellfish are consumedraw or undercooked. Several legal regulatory steps are in placethat control processes from production to sale to ensure consump-tion of uncontaminated live bivalves (Dia´rio da Repu´blica, Dec-reto-Lei #293/98, 18 September; Despacho extracto #18 940/2005, 2