Welsh E. coli cases expected to rise
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The number of people hit by an outbreak of potentially fatal E. coli food poisoning in Wales is likely to rise on Monday from the 115 already reported to have been affected, health officials have warned.
So far 25 people have had hospital treatment since the outbreak was first detected on September 16, with cases reported in 32 schools in South Wales.
A health services spokesman said the number of reported cases was likely to increase before the outbreak was resolved, as parents and relatives of those affected caught it from secondary infection.
“The numbers will keep going up, and although that may give the impression of the outbreak not being controlled, it is actually what you would expect to see in the aftermath of putting control measures in place,” he said.
The source of the infections has yet to be confirmed but the Food Standards Agency has linked the outbreak to meat from Bridgend firm John Tudor, which supplies schools and local authorities in South Wales.
Last week, the firm withdrew all its cooked meat products because of a risk that they might be contaminated.
The Food Standards Agency has asked all local authorities in Wales to contact caterers, delicatessens and pubs to make sure they no longer have any of the firm’s meat products on sale.
“The Agency is taking this step to make sure that other possible customers which may have been supplied by John Tudor are identified, because the investigation to date has been unable to establish the company’s full customer list,” the FSA said.
Symptoms of E. coli infection include severe diarrhoea and vomiting and can prove fatal for the very young or old.
Until the latest outbreak, Wales had been recording about 30 cases of E. coli a year.
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