E.Coli Outbreak: Another Child In Hospital

Fourteen children are now being treated in hospital after an E.coli outbreak at a petting farm, the Health Protection Agency has said.
The figure is up on the 13 who were in hospital on Tuesday, while the total number of cases linked to the outbreak has risen from 37 to 40.

Four of the children now in hospital are seriously ill, seven are in a stable condition and three are improving.

The latest update comes after the head of the HPA issued an apology to parents of those children left seriously ill by the outbreak at Godstone Farm in Surrey.

Justin McCracken said they knew about the first case at least six days earlier than previously stated.

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

Godstone Children's farm where there was an E.Coli outbreak

Godstone farm in Surrey

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

Initially, the HPA said that the first case had come to light on August 27 but an investigation found two cases were reported in the previous week.

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

The confession means that Godstone Farm was kept open for at least three weeks after the first case was reported.

Two-year-old Todd Furnell, who was admitted to hospital alongside his twin brother with kidney failure, has undergone a second blood transfusion.

The boys' mother, Tracy Mock, said her sons would not be in hospital if the HPA had acted when it knew about the first case.

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

Justin McCracken, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency

"The fact remains that the farm should not have been open when my guys went there," she said.

"If we had known that earlier, we would never have gone to the farm and my guys wouldn't be in hospital."

The agency has said the outbreak could be the largest of its kind spread by animals, and more children may still be diagnosed with the bacteria.

It has commissioned an independent investigation into the situation to look into what caused the virus and how it was handled.

Mr McCracken said it was important to have a "full understanding" of the outbreak so lessons could be learned.

He said: "I am determined that this organisation makes whatever changes are necessary in response to the findings of the investigation."

Ms Monk welcomed the investigation and said she was pleased that the HPA "had the guts" to launch an independent inquiry