E. coli farm should have public liability cover
A farm has been closed to members of the public after cases of E. Coli linked to the farm were announced.
This is said to be one of the biggest outbreak of the infection, ever reported.
This has brought about even more anger and concern to families and visitors, after the Health Protection Agency announced that links to the E. coli at Godstone farm in Surrey, could have been present from as early as 27th August.
However the farm was only closed to the public over a week later, on 5th September.
At present there are 36 reported cases of E. coli, with 12 of them being children who have been hospitalised. Of those in hospital, four are said to now be in a critical condition.
A mother, of three children, twin two-year-old boys and a young daughter, who are all in hospital, after they were infected when they visited the farm has said that she is "extremely angry" that the farm remained open after they were aware of the links to E coli.
The farm manager said: "All the staff at the farm are very upset and we hope that all the children make a full and speedy recovery."
He added: "Our main priority has always been to make sure the farm is safe for everyone who comes here to visit. This includes our own children and grandchildren. I have three daughters who all grew up at the farm and my grandchildren who come here often."
Public liability cover
In cases like this it is likely that legal cases will be made against the farm. A product such as public liability insurance could provide the finances, which would be given out in compensation claims.
It is unknown whether Godstone farm has any form of public liability cover. Such policies are also known as farm insurance. There are several variations of public liability cover, which can cover the different aspects of farm life. These include public and employee liability, as well as damage to produce, livestock and property.
Some polices are even specially designed according to the location that they are based in.
Speaking about its insurance provision, an insurer stated: "Full mortality cover can be provided for breeding livestock. Subject to the provision of additional information, insurance is normally available for livestock diseases, including Foot and Mouth, Brucellosis and bovine TB."
The biggest outbreak
Hugh Pennington, who is an Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen and an expert on E. coli, said: "It's certainly the biggest outbreak in terms of this environmental source.
"We may well get a trickle of [additional] cases if people were still exposed until the day when it closed.
"Younger kids, particularly under-fives, have a harder time and are much more prone to getting kidney complications. Most will pull through but some might be left with permanently damaged kidneys.
"Unfortunately there are deaths, often caused by complications involving the heart. It is a very unpleasant organism and there's no way you can prevent the complications happening once the infection has happened. That's why prevention is so important."
Updated on 9/14/2009