A number of pets linked with an E. coli outbreak in Dorset are being tested as experts work to identify the source.

It follows the discovery of the E. coli O55 strain in animal droppings outside a house of a family recently affected.

Public Health England (PHE) described this – the first non-human case – as “interesting.”

Two children were treated in hospital for serious kidney problems following E. coli O55 infections last month. They have since been allowed home.

It is not clear whether the fecal sample which tested positive came from a wild or domestic animal.

A cluster of cases of the bacterial illness in Dorset was investigated in November 2014, with another outbreak in May, but no common source was found.