Two more sufferers in latest E.coli outbreak

Two more people, including a 12-year-old girl, were yesterday confirmed as suffering from E.coli 0157, bringing the number of people affected in the latest Scottish food-poisoning outbreak to five. Health officials in Edinburgh revealed that three other people were suspected of having food poisoning which has already killed 20 Scots in two other outbreaks in the last three months.

An Edinburgh butcher at the centre of the latest food scare decided to close his shop yesterday. James Anderson made his decision following talks with environmental health officials who have linked three E.coli 0157 cases with his shop in Leith. There have been no deaths in the latest outbreak, but one of the victims, a 72-year-old woman, is seriously ill at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Swabs from the shop were taken yesterday but it could take up to five days before the results are known.

Meanwhile, John Barr, the butcher whose premises in Wishaw have been linked to 18 deaths in an earlier outbreak in Lanarkshire, prepares to reopen his shop today, with the approval of the area's public health authorities. Steve Boggan