E.coli outbreak claims 20th victim

An elderly female victim of last year's E. coli 0157 outbreak in Central Scotland died yesterday, bringing the total death toll to 20 - the highest number of fatalities caused by the bug in a single outbreak.

The unnamed woman died in Bankview nursing home, Banknock, Central Scotland, where she was a resident, the Forth Valley Health Board said. She had been confirmed as having the infection during the outbreak that hit Lanarkshire and Central Scotland last November and December, and had never fully recovered.

Officials said the woman's death brought the total from the outbreak in the Forth Valley area to eight. Six of those - five women and one man - were residents of the nursing home.

Before the Scottish outbreak, the worst recorded worldwide was in Canada in 1995, when 19 pensioners in a nursing home died from the infection.

The E. coli outbreak began last November, when several pensioners fell ill after attending a church lunch in Wishaw, Strathclyde. The first death, on 26 November, was that of Harry Shaw, 80. The next day, local butcher John Barr closed his shop as a major health investigation intensified. As the death toll grew, Scotland's senior law officer, the Lord Advocate, announced a fatal accident inquiry was to be held. The Government ordered a scientific inquiry, led by Professor Hugh Pennington, which called for sweeping changes in food safety.

Mr Barr appeared in court on 10 January accused of culpable and reckless conduct in relation to the alleged supply of contaminated meat. He is still awaiting trial. His shop reopened on 27 February. Since then, Scotland has had several more outbreaks of E. coli 0157, and no explanation has yet emerged as to why it seems to be more prevalent there than in England.

Two people died in an outbreak in Arbroath, and there have been other, non-fatal, outbreaks in Edinburgh and the Borders. Health officials were investigating 30 cases of E. coli 0157 among patients, staff and visitors at a unit for the frail elderly at Falkirk Royal Infirmary in Central Scotland. Of these victims, only four were still showing symptoms yesterday, and all were in a stable condition.