Mother of Canadian E. coli toddler questions E. coli response at BC petting zoo
The number of E. coli cases believed to be linked to the PNE has climbed from 13 last week to 18, and the mother of one sick child is questioning health officials' response.
Coquitlam, B.C., mother Caroline Neitzel says her 14-month-old daughter, Jacklyn (right), was infected with E. coli after a visit to the annual Vancouver fair on Sept. 5.
Neitzel said her daughter touched a number of different animals at the petting farm. She said she did her best to wipe her daughter's hands with wet wipes during that visit.
Despite her efforts, Jacklyn became very ill. At first doctors thought the toddler had the flu. Jacklyn was sent home twice before being admitted to Royal Columbian Hospital, according to her family.
"By that time, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head. She was just so lethargic," Neitzel told CTV News on Friday.
The toddler spent four days in hospital. Neitzel said she thinks her daughter would have been diagnosed earlier if health officials had issued a public warning when a cluster of E. coli cases was discovered.
Anna Marie D'Angelo, a spokeswoman for Vancouver Coastal Health, said the public was not alerted because there was no risk at the time.
"We became aware of the situation three days after the PNE had closed. So there was no risk to any future people getting this E. coli," she said.
Health officials say an alert would not have changed how a patient was treated at the hospital.
The PNE says E. coli has never been a problem in the past at the petting farm and that the fair has stringent hygiene measures in place, including signs and staff directing visitors to hand-washing stations.
The face of E. coli: twins who visited the UK petting zoo edition; Vancouver fair remains delusional
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
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.
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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.
