From:
James Giacalone
Date: 2001-10-07 04:49:00 UTC
Subject: Microscopes
This is a response to the person asking about
microscopes (sorry, I accidentally deleted your name
before I relied)
A "Good" microscope will cost a from $500-800. such as
a Wesco or bottom line Nikon. These scopes work just
fine to detect parasites as long as they have a 10X
40X and an Oil objective. The scopes I prefer and use
in my parasitology class are Olympus and they start
from $1000-1500 and up depending on the model.
Most parasite eggs can be seen at 10X. A trained eye
can see protozoans (giardia) and then bump it up to
40X. The oil objective is needed for bacterial counts
and ID as well as some mite ID. Your best bet is to
just bring a sample to your vet who can easily
recognize parasites, eggs, psuedoparasites and only
costs a few bucks to run the test. Otherwise you will
need to learn the test procedures. A simple
floatation test is not going to find ALL parasites.
There are many tests that can be run on feces and
require centrifuges, lab scales (expensive) and
various laboratory solutions (which you wont be able
to purchase because most of these materials are used
to manufacture illegal drugs) that if not prepared to
the proper concentrations will destroy parasite eggs
and protozoans and EVERY test will come out negative
(This is one way I test my parasitology students
ability to prepare solutions).
Again, your best bet is to just bring a sample to your
vet who can easily recognize parasites and eggs and
only costs a few bucks to run the test.
Jim Giacalone
Veterinary Technology Program Faculty
FRCC Larimer Campus Colorado
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