There is a well known saying, 'no pain, no gain' and that will be ringing true in the minds of Milk Link’s 1,600 producers, who are on the brink of reaping just reward for 12 years of loyalty and investment.HPA delays let E.coli outbreak spread
THE Health Protection Agency has admitted it should have put safety measures in place earlier to prevent an outbreak of E.coli on a public farm in Surrey which has left four children critically ill.
Thirty-seven people, including 13 children, have been taken ill with the potentially lethal bacteria after visiting Godstone Farm, which allows children to touch, feed and interact with farm animals.
Initially the HPA said the first case, which contracted the virus on August 8, had not come to light until August 27.
The HPA then introduced health and safety measures on September 3, and closed the farm on September 12.
However, following an immediate investigation into the incident it is now clear the Agency received a report of two cases before August 27.
Justin McCracken, chief executive of the HPA, said the crucial time delay could have made the outbreak worse.
“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,” he said.
On Tuesday (September 15), Mr McCracken phoned the parents of the critically ill children, including those that visited the farm on August 31, to offer them an apology.
“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,” he said.
The HPA has now set up an externally led investigation into the outbreak, the factors which contributed to it and its handling.
The investigation will be led by George Griffin, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Medicine at St. George’s, University of London.
Anne Milton, Shadow Health Minster, said there were a number of serious questions that would need to be answered.
“It is not clear why the farm was not closed as soon as a connection was established and why it took nearly two weeks to alert GPs to the outbreak.
“It is crucial that the findings of this investigation are made fully public so that we can learn the lessons of this situation and make sure that an outbreak on this scale does not happen again.”
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