Tag Archives: Petting

64 UK kids now sick from Godstone petting zoo; 3 other farms closed; is telling people to wash their hands really enough?

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With 64 kids now stricken with E. coli O157 related to visits at the Godstone farm in Surrey, the responses from the folks who run petting zoos could be a little more sympathetic, a little more reflective.

Instead, as reported by the Guardian tonight (tomorrow in the U.K.), Geoff Ford, who runs Docker Park farm in Lancashire, where children can feed pygmy goats (see 1999 Ontario Western Fair outbreak, below) by hand and stroke rabbits, said any ban would affect "children’s environmental education” stating,

"It’s going to get hyped up out of all proportion. It does away with children’s environmental education. It’s important that children realise what a chicken is, what a calf is – often they come here and ask ‘is that a horse?’… We have run our farm for 20 years with no problems. But there is only so much you can do if people don’t listen. The farm at the source of the outbreak in Surrey had big signs all over the place telling people to wash their hands, but some people don’t give a damn."

The U.K. Department of Health responded today by announcing that the advisory committee on dangerous pathogens would be reviewing the current guidance on open farms and will advise on the need for additional precautions "in the light of the current outbreaks of E coli O157."

A Department of Health spokesman told the Telegraph,

“The risk of infection from E-coli O157 through petting farm animals can be prevented by following everyday good hand hygiene measures.”

All of these statements have serious problems.

• 64 kids sick with E. coli O157 is not hysteria, it sucks;

• anyone who says, “we have run our farm for 20 years with no problems” is unwilling to learn and a hazard to public health;

• telling people to wash their hands is insufficient – proper handwashing requires access to proper tools;

• even with proper tools, signs are not enough, as we showed with our recent handwashing compliance study at a university residence when everyone was barfing and awareness was high; and,

• the best handwashing may not be enough — the E. coli O157:H7 that sickened 82 people in 2002 at the Lane County Fair in Oregon appears to have spread through the air inside the goat and sheep expo hall.

Scott Weese, a clinical studies professor at the University of Guelph (Canada) and colleagues reported in the July 2007 edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases that in a study of 36 petting zoos in Ontario between May and October of 2006, they observed infrequent hand washing, food sold and consumed near the animals, and children being allowed to drink bottles or suck on pacifiers in the petting area.

He observed similar failures yesterday.

So after 159 people, mainly children, were thought to be sickened with E. coli O157:H7 traced to a goat and a sheep at the 1999 Western Fair in London, Ontario, and eight years after all Canadian fairs were urged to adopt 46 recommendations to enhance petting zoo safety, many are still doing a lousy job.

Bill Marler has compiled a list of outbreaks related to petting zoos. We’ve previously reported at least 29 petting zoo related outbreaks in North America alone.

These petting zoo experiences raise questions: how best to motivate fair managers to provide petting zoos that are microbiologically safe? Should the urban public be allowed to interact with livestock at all? Should petting zoos be inspected, as restaurants are, and the results displayed?

If 64 sick kids is hysteria, conversation is useless and regulation required.
 

57 kids sick in UK from petting zoos; one owner says risk is overblown; lawsuits pending; problems in Vancouver and Ontario too

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With 57 children sick with E. coli O157 linked to petting farms in the U.K., and 10 still in hospital, farm owners said they would oppose a ban on small children visiting the attractions, and one of the owners said the risk is being greatly overblown.

The U.K. government has rightly decided to ignore such statements and is preparing to upgrade E. coli O157 to a "notifiable disease" – on a par with infections like smallpox and measles – to speed up detecting outbreaks.

With a half-dozen foodborne illness outbreaks of E. coli and Salmonella throughout the U.K. being reported in the past week, yes, maybe they should be notifiable disease(s).

Maybe I’m losing something in translation.

Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen and Groundhog Day enthusiast has seen all this before.

Pennington told The Times E coli O157 was prevalent in cows, sheep and goats, with research showing about one in 10 cows carried the bug and 40% of herds. He called for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines on petting farms to be reviewed and a minimum age introduced.

“There will have to be a look at the guidelines to see if they need tightening and a review of whether they are being properly followed.”

This is the problem: there are plenty of guidelines out there to manage all sorts of risks, food-related or otherwise, but do people really do what they say they do? Or do they  really think, it’s no biggie.

In the wake of the outbreak, the U.K. has closed four such petting farms, either linked directly to the outbreak or, their standards sucked.

My friend Scott Weese, a veterinarian researcher at the University of Guelph and host of the Worms and Germs blog, wrote earlier today that:

Considering all of the outbreaks that have been attributed to petting zoos, including an outbreak in the UK this month that has sickened dozens and another in Vancouver has affected at least 13 people, you would think that people who operate petting zoos would start to get the clue. Unfortunately, that’s clearly not the case.

My family and I went to the Fergus (Ontario) Fall Fair today. Apart from the petting zoos, it was a great day, but the potential for ending up in hospital with a life-threatening infection shouldn’t have to be a concern for fair attendees.

This fair has two petting zoos. One is in association with a pony ride. We went there first and while my kids were looking at the animals, I noticed there was a table and a sign saying to use a hand sanitizer after touching the animals, but there were not actually any hand sanitizers present. I asked the attendant and he immediately started looking. They eventually found some but we gave up after waiting a few minutes and went to the other petting zoo location because a handwashing station was present there. Despite a large crowd around the first petting zoo, I didn’t see anyone following our actions so presumably almost no one washed their hands after petting the animals. The good thing about this first petting zoo was they had a clean facility, appropriate animals and no major problems apart from the forgotten sanitizers.

Petting zoo number 2 was not as good. There were numerous problems, some of them very major.

* Inappropriate animals #1: As we walked in, someone held out a baby chick and tried to give it two my 2-yr-old daughter to handle. Standard guidelines are that children under 5 should not handle young poultry, so these animals are inappropriate for any petting zoo.

* Inappropriate animals #2: The next thing we passed was a young calf. Calves are also considered a high-risk animal and should not be present in petting zoos.

* Inappropriate animals #3: The calf had diarrhea (see the diarrhea staining and hair loss probably associated with prolonged diarrhea in picture). It’s very likely that this calf was shedding one or more infectious agents in its diarrhea, such as Cryptosporidium.

* Food for sale: Food was being sold and consumed inside the tent where the petting zoo was. This is inappropriate.

Petting zoos can be great events for kids. They can also be sources of large and serious outbreaks.

Hopefully nothing bad will come from this and we won’t hear reports of illness in petting zoo participants. But, as I’ve said before, hope is not a proper infection control program.

Anyone having a petting zoo must know the issues, risks and proper measures. Reading the Compendium of measures to prevent disease associated with animals in public settings would be a good start.

A leading personal injury lawyer, Jill Greenfield, a partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse in the U.K., told The Independent that she has received instruction from a family involved and expects a class action. In 2001, she represented Tom Dowling, who was awarded damages of £2.6m after he contracted E. coli as a four-year-old during a school trip to a north London farm in 1997, which resulted in his becoming quadriplegic and brain damaged. His was the third case of E. coli at the farm within a few months.
 

UK boy, 3, catches swine flu and E.coli; father disgusted kids’ lives put at risk at petting zoo

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Harry Dolby, three (right, photo from Telegraph) has become the latest victim of E.coli at a petting farm after being recetly hospitalised with swine flu.

He visited Godstone Farm with his mother Louise and friends on September 4, after the initial E. coli cases came to light.

Speaking from his bedside at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup, Kent, Harry’s father, Lee Dolby, said he was ”disgusted” at the failure of the farm and the HPA to act promptly.

Mr Dolby spoke of his anger at the actions taken over Godstone Farm.

”As soon as the first case came to light, the place should’ve been closed until it had been given the all-clear. ‘These are kids’ lives being put at risk here. I’m just disgusted at both the farm and the HPA, which is meant to be protecting us. Both are in the wrong for keeping the farm open. They realised it would be one of the last times for the kids to be able to visit and have a treat before the school holidays finished and they returned to classes."

The face of E. coli: Vancouver petting zoo edition

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Although the Vancouver Coastal Health authority had identified a cluster of E. coli infections as early as last Thursday, no public health warning was issued, said spokeswoman Anna Marie D’Angelo.

All 13 cases that have presented so far are thought to be related to exposure to the the PNE petting zoo.

The Vancouver Sun reports that B.C.’s Medical Health Officer Dr. John Carsley, said,

“We were suspicious on Thursday when two cases were reported, then there were more on Friday. … “We wrestle very seriously with this issue of whether to do a public alert or not. It depends very much on the outbreak, and if there is a continued risk out there.”

The family of 14-month-old Jacklyn Simpson (above, right, photo from Vancouver Sun), who was stricken with the illness after visiting the petting zoo, believes that had they known about the outbreak, they might have been able to get help earlier.

That’s one of the reasons to issue public alerts – so additional illnesses can be prevented. E. coli O157 also spreads easily from person-to-person so public warnings may help reduce additional transmissions.

And it would be helpful if public health types would clearly articulate why they go public about foodborne illness outbreaks and when. Saying, "we wrestle with it,” does not enhance public confidence. Or prevent additional illnesses.

E. coli backlash as UK health type apologies for delay in closing farm

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With 13 kids in hospital and 37 sick after visiting a UK farm, Health Protection Agency chief executive Justin McCracken has phoned parents of the children most seriously affected to apologise to them.

"If this information had been taken into account on 27 August, then the advice given and the steps taken on 3 September would have been introduced earlier and the farm might have been closed earlier.

"I wanted to speak personally to the parents of those children who are most seriously ill in hospital to explain what has happened and, however inadequate under the circumstances, to apologise.

"The position they find themselves in is unbearable and it is of course worse that what has happened might have been avoidable."

The farm was closed on Saturday – although the first E.coli case was reported on 27 August.

A pair of two-year-old twins, from Paddock Wood in Kent, have suffered acute kidney failure.

Initially, the HPA said the first case came to light on 27 August.

It later emerged that the agency had received a report of two cases in the previous week.
 

The face of E. coli: twins who visited the UK petting zoo edition; Vancouver fair remains delusional

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Two-year-old twins Aaron and Todd Furnell went to visit the farm and in this picture, from the Mirror, lie motionless on their stomachs in adjacent hospital cots.

Todd underwent a second blood transfusion yesterday – the day a 13th child was hospitalised – after the brothers had suffered acute kidney failure.

Ms Mock said: "They’re much the same, but now they are eating a little bit, rather than having it done for them through a feeding tube. When Aaron isn’t asleep, he seems a bit more alert, but Todd is struggling a little."

Tracy Mock is among a group of parents calling on health officials to explain why they were able to visit Godstone Farm, Godstone, near Redhill, Surrey, after the first case of E.coli was brought to manager’s attention there on August 27.

Ms Mock, from Kent, and her sons visited the farm four days later.

Four young children remained seriously ill in hospital last night following the outbreak on the popular petting farm.

Twenty four adults fell ill after visiting. Yesterday the Health Protection Agency (HPA), which faced calls for a public inquiry into its handling of the outbreak, confirmed there were a total of 37 cases of E.coli infection linked to the farm, including another child who had been recently diagnosed.

Another toddler, Alfie Weaver, was being monitored by doctors at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, where he also had blood transfusions.

The little boy was left screaming in agony when his kidneys shut down following the outbreak. He was cared for in an isolation ward but is now understood to have begun talking.

His grandfather, from Redhill, who did not want to be named, said the three-year-old has since shown signs of improvement.

"It was like a dream come true, he has been in agony for nine days," he said.

The child and his six-year-old sister were taken to Godstone Farm on the August bank holiday – several days after the first case of E.coli was reported.

His mother, Gemma Weaver, said: "We deserve answers from the farm and the Health Protection Agency about this horrific bug. This farm should have been shut down earlier in August if kids tested positive for the bug then."

In Vancouver, where another dozen kids got sick from the petting zoo, the local paper can’t decide whether it was the food or the petting zoo.

Mark Neale writes in the Belfast Telegraph this morning that those who have investigated E. coli O157  "know the risk it poses on open or petting farms. A quick scan of the literature suggests one outbreak a year can be associated with open or petting farms. E.coli, particularly the virulent 0157 variant, has always been associated with farms and farm animals. Hand-washing, alcohol gels and all manners of materials used to remove the bacteria ultimately will prove useless."
 

More kids sick at petting zoo, this time in Vancouver; health type says no need to announce outbreak

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Tragically following the mother country, the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver (that’s Canada) is reporting that 11 children and two adults came down with E. coli days after visiting the petting zoo at the PNE this summer.

The story triumphantly declares that it was the first time the PNE has been linked to cases of E. coli since the agricultural fair opened in 1910.

One child remained in hospital Tuesday in fair condition and two children have been sent home. The ages of the victims ranged from 21 months to 69 years.

Vancouver’s PNE and its petting zoo with sheep, goats, horses and a donkey were open from Aug. 22 to Sept. 7.

Dr. John Carsley, a medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, said officials did not announce the outbreak of E. coli.

“An announcement would have been pointless. No one was at risk to be infected after the PNE closed and, if someone was exposed to the germ but has not yet fallen ill, there is nothing that could be done to prevent an outbreak of the illness. If you have nothing to offer people, what are you going to tell them?”

The majority of people who went into the barn and were exposed to the germs were at no risk, he also said. “So you are basically scaring an enormous amount of people and telling them, you might have been exposed to a potentially fatal illness about which you can do nothing.”

Tell them to be careful when going to petting zoos. Inform them of the risk. Try not to be a tool.
 

Petting zoo terrors: another UK child treated for E.coli; twins affected

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Another child is being treated in hospital following an outbreak of E.coli at a farm in Surrey.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there were now 13 youngsters being treated, of which four were seriously ill and six were in a stable condition.

Three are improving in hospital, with the total number of cases of E.coli 0157 linked to Godstone Farm now at 37.

The farm, near Redhill, was closed on Saturday – although the first E.coli case was reported on 27 August.
 

UK petting zoo E. coli O157 outbreak: 36 confirmed sick; 12 in hospital all under age of 10; four in serious condition; this won’t turn out well

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It’s like people in the U.K. had never heard of E. coli O157. Despite outbreak after outbreak – often involving children at nurseries — public inquiries and a single food safety agency, the Brits just seem oblivious when it comes to dangerous pathogens that send kids to the hospital.

This morning, the London Times reported that

“Thousands of children across the South of England may be at risk from the E. coli bug in what looks to be the largest UK outbreak linked to transmission from farm animals."

Godstone Farm in Surrey, a popular family attraction where children are encouraged to stroke and touch animals, is closed while the Health Protection Agency (HPA) conducts tests to find out the cause of the outbreak which has left 12 children in hospital, four of them in a serious condition.

About 1,000 children, mainly from South London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex, visit the farm every day during the school holidays and at weekends. It is feared that 30,000 children could be at risk of infection.

It has emerged health officials knew about the outbreak among people who visited the farm days before it was closed to the public.

The Health Protection Agency became aware of the outbreak in late August after cases were traced to the farm.

One parent has expressed her anger, saying the decision for the farm to remain open was an "absolute disgrace".

But farm manager Richard Oatway said the farm had acted responsibly and was co-operating with the investigation.

Richard, please share with us your knowledge of natural reservoirs of E. coli O157, and the steps you’ve taken to control such dangerous pathogens from infecting children who visit your farm. Handwashing isn’t enough.
 

Pet snakes and babies don’t mix: 4-month-old hospitalized with Salmonella in UK

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I don’t know what it is with parents in the U.K. letting pet snakes hang out with their babies.

For the third time in recent memory, a 4-month-old baby fell seriously ill with salmonella she caught from the family’s pet snake.

The baby girl was admitted to intensive care at St Thomas Hospital with a fever and high heart rate in August, where hospital tests revealed she was suffering from a strain known as salmonella Arizona, which is commonly associated with snakes.

She has recovered since then and an investigation by environmental health officers at Sutton Council identified the most likely source to be the family’s two royal python snakes, which can carry the infection in their gut and spread it through their droppings.

The council has now issued a hygiene warning to owners of exotic reptiles, saying it is essential for them to wash hands thoroughly after handling a reptile and keep the animal away from anywhere food is prepared.