HPA review into E.coli outbreaks at petting farms

A Health Protection Agency (HPA) review has found there were 55 outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease linked to petting farms between 1992 to 2009 in England and Wales. Although the overall risk of infection is low in light of the millions of farm visits each year, these outbreaks, over a 17-year period, led to 1328 people becoming infected, of whom 113 were hospitalised. Illness ranged from mild through to severe diarrhoea and occasionally more serious conditions.