Be careful about petting zoos, public health officials warn

Date: Dec. 17, 1999
Time: 11:10 am

The recommendations are among 46 made in a report issued this week by the Middlesex-London Health Unit. They follow a fall outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7, the virulent strain of E. coli also known as "hamburger disease." The study produced "very strong evidence" linking the outbreak to goats and sheep in a petting zoo at the Western Fair, a popular agricultural exhibition in London, Ont. Other recommendations:

• Signs, pamphlets and the news media should be used to inform the public that hands need to be washed following visits to animal exhibits.
• The public should not be allowed to milk cows or touch calves or other young animals.
• Food should not be fed to animals in edible containers such as ice-cream cones.
• Baby wipes should not be used instead of hand washing because they do not kill E. coli O157:H7.
• The public should have no contact with newborn animals or their environments, which should be cleaned thoroughly postpartum.
• Manure should be removed quickly.
• Provincial health officials should consider screening animals prior to their placement in animal exhibits.
• Railings should be used to prevent people from touching animals and they should be disinfected at least daily.

The health unit's 47-page report concluded that 7 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 were related to contact with animals at the fair's agriculture pavilion. Four other confirmed cases involved spread of the infection to other family members. In addition, health officials identified 159 suspected cases involving diarrhea that were reported within 10 days of visiting the animal exhibits.

Five of the 7 primary cases involved phage type 27, which is rare in Canada. This phage type was also found in a goat and sheep in the petting zoo, and in a pigmy goat that was not exhibited at the fair but was part of the zoo.

In one unusual case, a 3-year-old girl developed phage type 27-related diarrhea Oct. 12, even though she had attended the fair on Sept. 18 — well outside the normal incubation period of 2 to 8 days. The investigators concluded that infection may have occurred because of manure stuck on the girl's shoes or stroller, or because of an unusually long incubation period. — David Helwig, London, Ont.

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