Another child has been admitted to hospital following an E. coli outbreak in East Lancashire.
The total number of confirmed cases has now risen to 14, with 12 children and two adults affected after visiting Huntley’s Country Store in Samlesbury between March 29 and April 24.
This comes as the National Farmer’s Union has reassured people that petting farms are safe as long as hygiene rules are followed and that they should continue to go despite the E. coli outbreak.
Not quite.
There have been outbreaks where pathogens have been aerosolized and that handwashing was not a significant control factor.
A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at https://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Petting-Zoo-Outbreaks-Table-4-8-14.xlsx.
G. Erdozain , K. KuKanich , B. Chapman and D. Powell
Best practices for planning events encouraging human-animal interactions
03.Apr.14
Educational events encouraging human–animal interaction include the risk of zoonotic disease transmission. ‘It is estimated that 14% of all disease in the USA caused by Campylobacter spp., Cryptosporidium spp., Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157, non-O157 STECs, Listeria monocytogenes, nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica and Yersinia enterocolitica were attributable to animal contact. This article reviews best practices for organizing events where human–animal interactions are encouraged, with the objective of lowering the risk of zoonotic disease transmission.