7/10/2012

Questionnaires will help determine how the infection has spread.

Further limitations on movement at Kuralan Kylämäki

According to the latest test results, EHEC bacteria were found not only in milk but also in the area around the barn and in the animals' drinking vessels at Kuralan Kylämäki. Thus, there are now further limitations on movement at Kuralan Kylämäki. All people who visited the farm earlier are kindly requested to fill out a questionnaire. One purpose of the questionnaire is to determine along which infection routes EHEC spread; either through the raw milk or any other possible routes of transmission.

In addition to raw milk, EHEC bacteria were found also around the barn and the animals' drinking vessels. The Museum Centre of Turku has set in place a series of extensive cleaning procedures, such as cleaning and roads and pathways with chemicals. The relaxation of the restrictions imposed on the farm will be considered only when all necessary measures have been implemented.

Movement around the barn area is forbidden. Contact with cows and sheep must be avoided because the EHEC infection spreads easily from animals to humans. People who visit Kurala are asked to follow hand hygiene rules. The sale of raw milk from the farm has been ended.

All Museum Centre of Turku arranged activities have been postponed until further notice.

An expert from The Animal Disease Prevention Association (ETT) visited the farm on Wednesday 4 July. Under expert guidance, the farm will draw up a risk management plan to prevent and reduce the risk of EHEC infection.

All visitors to Kuralan Kylämäki since May this year are requested to answer the questionnaires, which will help determine how the infection has spread. Please answer the questionnaire before 22 July, 2012.

• Questionnaire on the use of unpasturised milk (in Finnish)
• Questionnaire for visitors to Kuralan Kylämäki (in Finnish)

How does EHEC spread?

The infection is generally spread through fecal contamination and inadequately cooked raw meat or through drinking and bathing water. Infection can also spread through hand-to-hand contact, or by touching an animal that carries the bacteria. A person who has the bacteria can carry it in their body for one to three weeks after the symptoms of infection have ended.

The most common symptoms of an EHEC infection are diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pains, and possibly fever. There can also be blood in the diarrhea. Children and the elderly are particularly predisposed to more serious forms of infection.

A person with those symptoms, who has had contact with the farm’s raw milk or contact with a person who has been infected, is kindly requested to immediately contact a health centre.

Related articles (in Finnish):

• FAQs about unpasturised milk (Evira)
• EHEC cases in Southwest Finland

Earlier articles on the EHEC infection:

• EHEC bacteria found at Kuralan Kylämäki(29.6.2012)
• Two children suspected of catching EHEC infection from unpasteurised milk(26.6.2012)