Ninth pensioner dies after food-bug infection

Britain's worst food-poisoning outbreak appeared to have claimed a ninth victim yesterday, when an elderly woman died two days after being released from hospital.

Forth Valley Health Board announced that the woman, who has not been named, died at the Bank View private nursing home in Banknock, Stirlingshire. The E. coli infection had already taken the life of another resident of the home, Arthur Nicol, 79, on Friday.

A spokeswoman for the health board said: "The woman had been released well from Falkirk Royal Infirmary on Friday after making a good recovery from E. coli infection. Sadly, she died earlier today."

A member of staff at the nursing home said: "We cannot say anything at the moment." The outbreak began last month and tests by environmental health officers suggested the shop of John Barr, in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, was the source of the infection.

Strathclyde police and the Procurator Fiscal, the Scottish crown prosecutor, were called in to investigate, amid claims that Mr Barr supplied cooked meats for an 18th birthday party after promising officials from North Lanarkshire council that he would stop trading while inquiries were made.

Health officials said there was no longer a risk from the outlets supplied by Mr Barr, this year's Scottish butcher of the year, providing that no cooked meats or meat products remained and a thorough clean-up was carried out.

Lanarkshire Health Board and environmental health officers said they were "satisfied that the potential risk of the transmission of E. coli 0157 from having stocked Mr Barr's products no longer exists".

The Scottish Centre for Infectious Diseases said yesterday that the total number of people in Scotland showing symptoms of E. coli 0157 was 386, with the number of confirmed cases totalling 204.

Forth Valley Health Board said the condition of an elderly woman in Stobhill Hospital was still giving cause for concern and Lanarkshire Health Board said doctors were also worried about the condition of 16 adults being treated at Monklands Hospital, Airdrie.

Seven staff at Mr Barr's shop have shown traces of E. coli in tests by environmental health officers. It is understood that the workers became infected after the outbreak began and were not carrying E. coli before the spread was detected.

Previous outbreaks of Escherichia coli 0157, known in the United States as the hamburger bug, have shown that up to 5 per cent of those infected can die. The situation has been made worse in Scotland because of the number of older people who have been affected by the bug. Elderly people are less able to fight the infection.

The latest death came as details emerged of research by scientists in Canada into a possible antidote to the poison. Clinical trials are expected to begin in Britain next year.

The first casualty of the Scottish outbreak was Harry Shaw, 80, one of a party of pensioners taken ill after a steak pie meal provided by Mr Barr.