Public Health Wales and Torfaen County Borough Council with the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency are investigating an outbreak of cryptosporidium associated with a farm in Cwmbran. Four people who have worked at Greenmeadow Community Farm have tested positive for cryptosporidium, and a further 13 possible cases in staff and volunteers are under investigation.
The one adult and three teenagers who have tested positive had all bottle fed lambs and kid goats that had diarrhoea. There have been no reported cases of illness among members of the general public who visited the farm.
Dr Lika Nehaul, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control for Public Health Wales, said: “Cryptosporidium is a disease that is very common in young farm animals and can easily be passed to people who come into contact with those animals.
“It causes watery diarrhoea, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting, and can last for up to a month. Healthy people will usually make a full recovery. “Everyone who has been unwell had direct contact with the bottle fed lambs and kid goats at Greenmeadow Community Farm. As part of our investigations, we are checking on all those whom we believe had contact with these animals. We are not aware of cases of illness in any visitors to the farm who did not feed these animals. However, as a precaution, the affected animals have been removed from the farm.
There has been an outbreak of Cryptosporidiumat two Minnesota water parks. This parasite causes a gastrointestinal diseasewith diarrhea. While most people recover in a couple of weeks, some people can develop life-threatening complications.Children, the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and anyone with a chronic illness are most susceptible to complications. The parasite’s oocysts can resist many different disinfectants. Transmission is from faecal contamination in the water; swimmers swallow water that contains the parasite.
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