Widespread ignorance of E coli bug disease risk

Published on Monday 28 June 2010 18:00

Two thirds of visitors to Britain's countryside have never heard of the potentially deadly E coli 0157 bug - the infection which was responsible for the deaths of 21 people in Wishaw.

A new study by researchers at Aberdeen and Bangor universities has uncovered a deep urban and rural divide when it comes to knowledge of the bug.

Their study has shown that two thirds of people who live and work in the countryside are aware of the dangers posed by the infection and take action to address the risk. But only a third of visitors to the countryside have even heard of the bug.

Last night Prof Hugh Pennington, the eminent microbiologist who led the inquiries following both the fatal outbreak in Wishaw in 1996 and the 2005 outbreak in South Wales in which one person died and 157 people were infected, said: "I am surprised at these findings. Every year we usually have one outbreak which gets quite a lot of media coverage.

"Folk memory is quite short and it needs to be reinforced. The only thing we can do about this bug is prevent it because, once you catch it, there is nothing doctors can do to stop complications developing. Prevention is the name of the game."

The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 tourists, residents and farmers from North Wales and the North East of Scotland, found that in North Wales the knowledge of E coli amongst visitors was only 28 per cent, compared with 45 per cent in Grampian. And in Grampian, 67 per cent of rural residents were aware of the risk posed by the bug compared with 42 per cent in North Wales.

Last year 1,241 people were infected with E coli O157 in Britain, with 241 cases in Scotland. And last May, Health Protection Scotland issued an information sheet on precautions for reducing the risk of E coli infection.