Pat's Note: Yet another E.Coli outbreak in Scotland's pig country.

From memory,  there was a major pig  bankruptcy in the area with stock
disposal. In the past that has followed severe upturns in circovirus
epidemics in pig farms.

You can't make money out of sick pigs and they are a danger to
everyone.

Anyway the posting "There is something in the water" yesterday is
attracting attention elsewhere and the fact that nobody is excluding
pigs as a source, noticed. 

The fact that sick pigs were sent to England with a public comment of
that kind is obviously an unexploded grenade under both Gordon Brown
and Salmond. It should be manna from heaven for the unionist parties
other than the government.

Why isn't somebody exclusind contamination from pig slurry?

It is a pity that one has to take the PSIS to get British scientists
to behave like civilised human beings - or even like effective
scientists.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7597737.stm

Patients warned of E.coli cases  
 
E.coli can cause kidney failure and death in extreme cases 
NHS Tayside has written to almost 90 people after it was discovered
their fellow patients at Ninewells Hospital had the potentially deadly
E.coli 0157. 

The infection was found in a small group in wards five and nine, who
became ill last month. 

They did not become infected at the hospital and doctors have said
this is a precautionary measure. 

People who were in the affected wards should look out for diarrhoea,
fever, sickness, vomiting and stomach pains. 

A small number of people may develop kidney failure, anaemia and
bleeding. 

Complications are most common in children under five and the elderly. 

Contaminated water 

If a former patient has the infection the symptoms should have shown
within 14 days of leaving the wards. 

Usually they take three to four days to develop and can last a number
of weeks. 

The source of the outbreak is not known and the patients are not
thought to be related. 

People usually become infected by eating contaminated food, having
contact with animals at farms or zoos or drinking or swimming in
contaminated water. 

It can be passed from someone who is infected through poor hand
washing after going to the toilet or before preparing food. 

  By taking some simple steps people can help reduce the risk of
catching the infection 

Dr Christopher McGuigan
NHS Tayside
 

Dr Christopher McGuigan, consultant in Public Health Medicine, said:
"If you receive a letter, please do not worry. While E.coli O157 can
cause a serious infection, we believe the risk of you catching it is
very small. 

"We are writing to former patients and staff with advice on E.coli
O157 infection and we are offering screening for it as a precautionary
measure. E.coli O157 can spread easily. 

"By taking some simple steps people can help reduce the risk of
catching the infection." 

Professor Stewart Forsyth, medical director of NHS Tayside's Delivery
Unit, also reassured patients and visitors who are due to come to
Ninewells. 

He said: "We have written to a number of former patients who have
spent time in two wards as a precautionary measure. 

"If anyone has experienced stomach cramps, loose bowel movements or
diarrhoea, sometimes with blood in it, within 14 days of when they
left hospital, they should go to see their own GP." 

 
-- 
Regards
Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
www.go-self-sufficient.com  and http://animal-epidemics.blogspot.com/