There has been a further increase in the number of people who have fallen ill following a parasitic infection outbreak at a Welsh farm. Public Health Wales (PHW) have now confirmed that its ongoing investigation into a cryptosporidium outbreak at Cowbridge Farm Shop has seen 81 people who have fallen ill.

by GDW312

5 comments

  1. Not exactly the best advert for the farm shop! I know they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity but…

  2. If there’s anything you need to learn from this folks is that if you are taking your kids to any attraction where they can freely interact with and touch livestock, wash your damn hands!

    These are not cutesy perfectly clean pets, they are animals that are often happy to sit down in their own waste or up to their knees in slurry, and even when perfectly healthy carry all sorts of nasties in their guts that can make you very very ill

    Not to say don’t go to petting zoos, when cattle aren’t being half ton idiots or when goats are choosing to be nice they are fun to be around, but unlike horses, dogs cats etc livestock are not pets and you need to take precautions when around them, hand washing being a basic

  4. I read this too and I’m from the area. It’s unfortunate what happened but am I wrong to think this is fear-mongering? After touching farm animals, you should always thoroughly wash your hands. That is common sense. This sounds like an unfortunate event that got out of hand, but I wouldn’t consider this an imminent danger?

    My granddad had sheep and I often helped him care for them. So as a young child, I’d be in contact with sheep every few days. Always washed my hands. Never heard or encountered anything that was life threatening? This is making it seem as if farm animals are a danger and to be cautious letting young kids touch them.

    It doesn’t sit well with me since I already feel kids have so little oppertunity to interact with animals and be outside in nature. Most petting zoos don’t even allow kids to walk freely around animals, they’re all behind fences… I think it’s only going to get worse after this.

  5. Farmer here. This has most definitely come from livestock. My guess would be young calves. We have had a few cases over the years with our young stock and it can be fatal if not caught in time.
    It can also lie dormant in stock so you wouldn’t necessarily notice if an animal is unwell. I know the farmers in question and their animal husbandry is spot on.

    I wouldn’t think this is negligence on their part. If you’re visiting famrs or petting zoos, wash your hands after any interaction with livestock. The public wouldn’t have the same immunity to livestock born illness as we do so it’s easy to pick up something from them.

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