Warnings as outbreak of E.coli spreads

PUBLIC HEALTH officials in charge of the E.coli outbreak in Cumbria warned yesterday that further cases could appear in the next week as two more suspected victims were admitted to hospital.

The latest cases, both children, bring to 28 the total of confirmed and suspected cases.The outbreak has been traced to a milk pasteurising unit at a dairy farm in Brigham, near Cockermouth, serving 300 people in the area.

Five children were allowed home yesterday but four others including an 18-month-old girl were still in hospital.

Environmental health officials are worried that the infection could spread from person to person. They urged extra care with personal hygiene and food preparation, especially if a family member had diarrhoea symptoms.

Six adults confirmed to have E.coli food poisoning were being treated in a special isolation unit at West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven. Children were being treated in individual rooms to eliminate the chance of secondary infection.

The youngest child, 18-month-old Leah Druce from Brigham, and two other children were being treated for kidney problems at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where they were described as stable.

The fourth child was also in a stable condition at West Cumberland Hospital. The adults, the oldest of whom is an 82-year-old man, were in a special isolation unit at the hospital.

Anna-Maria Tiffin, 44, said she was stunned to discover her 10-year-old son Joseph had the potentially deadly infection.

Joseph, from Cockermouth, who was taken ill last week, was one of the first victims to be admitted to hospital. Mrs Tiffin, who has three other children, said: "We are glad Joseph can go home today. We just have to wait for some more tests. We will have to come back for some more blood tests and keep a check on various things. Hopefully there will be no long- term effects.

"At first we panicked and thought about what we had given him to eat but he had had no different to the rest of us.

"I don't think the health authority could have acted any quicker."

Dr Stella Goh, a public health consultant, has warned that as the condition incubates for between one and six days, people could pass on the infection even though they were showing no symptoms.

The West Cumbria Healthcare NHS Trust chairman, Eric Urquhart, said the suspected cases were being kept separate to stop cross-contamination.

Scientists are analysing the strain of the infection - E.coli O157 - to see if it is the same as that which killed 21 people in Lanarkshire two years ago.

A helpline has been set up on 01946-523111. By last night it had received more than 200 calls.