AN E.coli outbreak which led to the death of a child has been reclassified as a live case after two more people were identified as being infected.

And investigators say that the are looking into whether cases of E.coli 0157 infection affect children in the Angus area may also be linked.

A multi-agency Incident Management Team (IMT), that includes Health Protection Scotland and Food Standards Scotland’s Scottish arm has been reconvened to deal with the latest developments.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) on Wednesday issued a blanket ban on the sale of all cheese from Errington Cheese, of Carnwath, South Lanarkshire, rhw Scottish producer linked to the outbreak which led to the death of a three-year-old Dunbartonshire girl.

Glasgow Times:

Ten days ago the IMT had declared the outbreak to be "over" and that it had now stood down leaving the FSS working with South Lanarkshire Council to continue food safety investigations.

The latest cases brings the number of confirmed cases linked to the outbreak to 22.

NHS Tayside Health Protection Team and Angus Council are currently investigating cases of E.coli O157 infection affecting a small number of children in the Angus area. 

IMT said initial information suggests that there may be a link to the national outbreak and investigations are ongoing.

Health officials originally linked Dunsyre Blue cheese, produced by Errington Cheese, to the outbreak and batches of the product were recalled.

But the IMT are still to entirely prove yet that the cheese was responsible for the outbreak.

The IMT remains in the same position investigators were in a month ago, in that Dunsyre Blue is "the most likely" cause of the outbreak.

IMT chairman Dr Alison Smith-Palmer said that the IMT has established that 19 of the 22 confirmed cases had eaten blue cheese prior to becoming ill.

Of these, 15 are known to have eaten Dunsyre Blue while others cannot be certain about the brand of blue cheese they have consumed. Investigations are ongoing on the other cases.

“During investigations of this nature, the organism causing the outbreak is not always identified from the implicated food as the food consumed by cases is often not available for testing as illness can occur weeks after the food has been eaten," said Dr Smith-Palmer.

"In addition, not all those who have eaten an implicated product will become ill because the organism is not always evenly distributed throughout the product.

"The IMT has considered all the information available to them, and continue to be of the view that Dunsyre Blue remains the most likely cause of the outbreak."

She said as part of the investigations carried out by South Lanarkshire Council and Food Standards Scotland on behalf of the IMT, a "large number of cheese samples have been taken as well as other investigations conducted".

Dr Smith-Palmer said: "These have identified a number of different cheeses produced by Errington Cheese Ltd containing organisms with the potential to cause serious illness including O157 E.coli and toxin producing non-O157 E.coli.

"Based on these findings, Food Standards Scotland has issued a food safety alert to withdraw all cheeses produced by the company.

"Food Standards Scotland is advising all consumers who have purchased any cheeses produced by Errington Cheese Ltd not to consume them, and to return the products to where they purchased them.

“In view of these developments, the IMT has been reconvened and will be meeting on a regular basis to review and consider all information as it becomes available to protect public health.”