Published 15 September 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3795
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3795

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Outbreak of E coli O157 is linked to Surrey open farm

Jacqui Wise

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A large outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 at a farm in Surrey has resulted in 12 children needing hospital treatment. Three of them remain seriously ill.

The Health Protection Agency said that 36 cases of E coli O157 have been linked to Godstone farm, near Redhill in Surrey. The farm, which lets children pet and feed animals, receives up to 2000 visitors a day during school holidays.

Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of microbiology at Aberdeen University, said: "This is a very large outbreak for an open farm; usually there are only one or two cases. It is a puzzle why there have been so many cases."

Questions are being asked as to why the farm was not closed earlier. The first patients seem to have visited the farm on 8 August, but the farm was not closed until 12 September. The Health Protection Agency has defended its response, saying that . . . [Full text of this article]


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BMJ 2009 339: b3870. [Extract] [Full Text]

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