E.coli outbreak declared over following child’s death

The July outbreak resulted in 20 identifiable cases, 11 of which required hospitalisation.

According to a statement published by the FSS, a multi-agency incident management team, chaired by Health Protection Scotland (HPS), implicated two batches of Dunsyre Cheese based on “epidemiological evidence”​. The batches of the cheese brand, made from unpasteurised cows’ milk, were voluntarily recalled from sale by its maker, Errington Cheese Ltd, on July 28.

Errington has strongly refuted the link, adding that its cheese had been shown to be E.coli​-free in tests.

Dunsyre Cheese is sold to hotels, restaurants and delicatessens, but isn’t available in supermarkets.

Last month, HPS told FoodManufacture.co.uk that, based on the detailed information available to the multi-agency team, Dunsyre Blue cheese “remained the most likely source of this outbreak, with confirmed cases becoming unwell between July 2 and 15”​.

Food safety investigation​

In its latest statement, FFS said that the incident management team had declared the outbreak to be over and, in accordance with procedure, had now stood down. The food standards body, working with South Lanarkshire Council, was now continuing its own food safety investigation.

It said: “FSS’s statutory duty is to protect public health. FSS fully recognises the importance of the food sector to Scotland’s economy. It is a flourishing sector and key to that is trust that what is being produced is safe and fit for human consumption.”​

In a statement published on its website last month, Errington said it didn’t know why the incident management team concluded that cheese batches C22 and D14 were responsible for the outbreak, as “​the wholesalers who supplied all the restaurants did not keep a record of which batches went to which customer; any of 10 batches might have been supplied to these restaurants”​.

It added that all of its testing – covering a period of almost six months – showed its cheese to be completely clear of E.coli 0157​.

All tested negative​

Furthermore, Errington said at least six samples had been taken from implicated batch D14, which all tested negative for E.coli 0157​.

Selina Cairns, who runs Errington with husband Andrew, said: “We haven’t been shown the outbreak report, the food histories of those affected (names redacted), or any other supporting documentation. All we have seen is a flow chart (based, we know, on inaccurate data) and brief summary, both of which were issued at the time of our voluntary recall of the cheese. The flow chart only relates to nine out of 19 cases of illness, not all of whom had eaten any blue cheese.”​

“From what we can gather all cases had an onset of symptoms between July 1–15. However, our cheese was available over an eight to nine-week period. From this, we conclude that the outbreak was more likely to have been caused by something with a shorter shelf-life, or not by a food at all.”​

FSS classifies raw milk as a high-risk food, because it is not pasteurised. Its advice to vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, children and the elderly, was that they should not consume raw, unpasteurised milk and dairy products such as cheese made from unpasteurised milk due to the increased risk of food poisoning.

The Scottish outbreak followed the news that two people died in July from E.coli​ found in mixed salad leaves. The mixed salad leaf outbreak infected 161 people in total, and was declared over in August.

No information on the identity or age of the child who died as a result of the latest outbreak has been released.