Food Safety News – July 2010
E.coli O157 linked to a petting farm in Surrey
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As of today (24th September 2009 the number of people affected by the O157 strain of the illness connected to Godstone Farm now stands at 76. Five children remain in hospital- they are described as improving although there are mixed reports about whether one child is seriously ill. |
Two-year-old twin boys, Todd and Aaron Furnell, were among those admitted to hospital. The youngsters, from Kent, suffered acute kidney failure following the E.coli outbreak at Godstone Farm.
Godstone Farm has been closed for over a week and its sister farm, Horton Park Children's Farm in Epsom, is also shut because of "unsatisfactory" hygiene arrangements.
Earlier in the week, the HPA apologized for delays in its handling of the outbreak at Godstone Farm and announced that an external investigation would be carried out.
The HPA said the first case had come to light on 27 August but it later emerged that the agency had received a report of two cases in the previous week.
The Times reports up to 2,000 people, half of whom were children, visited the farm each day during the school holidays and similar numbers have visited over recent weekends
The World of Country Life in Exmouth, Devon, closed its petting farm and deer ride on Friday on the advice of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) as 3 children who visited in August were also shown to have the E.coli O157 infection
Four people also became infected with E.coli after visiting White Post Farm at Farnsfield, near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, though no direct link has been made.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "The risk of infection from E.coli 0157 through petting farm animals can be prevented by following everyday good hand hygiene measures".
"Ill health following a visit to an open farm is unusual even among children and these risks need to be balanced against the benefits for a child's education and development that arise from contact with animals".
"In the light of the current outbreaks of E.coli 0157, associated with visits to open farms, the advisory committee on dangerous pathogens is being asked to review the current guidance and will advise on the need for additional precautions."
A leaflet produced by the Scottish Executive: Shedding Light on E.Coli O157 is very informative and can be downloaded. CLICK HERE
| Dr Lisa Ackerley, Managing Director of Hygiene Audit Systems has recently presented papers on prevention of E.coli O157 at the RSPH and CIEH conferences and in Jamaica at the 4th International Conference on Food Safety and Security, where she has discussed the wider implications of outbreaks, and actually said that the next large E.coli outbreak may well be non-food in origin. |  |
“E.coli O157 has been shown to survive for weeks on farmland and even on dry kitchen surfaces, including inside fridges. We need to use this knowledge to ensure that we put in controls to prevent E.coli from causing illness.”
“Providing facilities and signs for hand washing on farms is all very well, but with very young children, it is almost impossible to stop them from touching surfaces on the farm after they have washed their hands – contact surfaces such as gates, tables, fencing and play equipment could all have become contaminated if there is E.coli present on the farm through direct or indirect contact. Whilst the educational stimulus for children on farms is great, and it would be a shame to ban visits, the risk of contracting such a serious illness must now be taken very seriously. The real solution to this issue must be to eliminate E.coli O157 from the animals, through regular testing and control of feed and environment.
Schools also need to take note – many have visiting petting farms at school fetes where children may be touching animals one minutes and munching on home-made cake the next.” Most at risk are the under 5s hence the call to ban young children from handling animals which would be such a shame.”
How does this apply to food businesses?
“You might easily ask” says Hygiene Audit Systems Director Graham Murphy “ but it does serve to remind us that E. coli O157 is ever present in our raw meats and we need to be continually aware of its consequences.
“ Caterers must remind staff of the importance of washing hands when handling raw meat and ensure mixed meat dishes like burgers and nuggets are cooked thoroughly especially when serving to young children.
“People often ask can we prevent it coming in on meat well there is no hard and fast answer on this. If we can ensure good hygiene during the care and slaughter of animals this could reduce the problem. Research also suggest grain fed cattle are also less likely to have E.coli O157 in the meat; in the meantime, the best approach for caterers is to ensure caution through proper training and monitoring of staff”
There have been outbreaks associated with pre-washed salads such as spinach in the USA and herbs, which means we also need to be very vigilant about the provenance of produce and washing procedures.
