School chick project leads to illness

20 April 2000



School chick project leads to illness

FIFTEEN children have been infected with salmonella after close contact with chicks at their nursery, reports The Express.

Newcastle and North Tyneside health officials said the outbreak was linked to a batch of duck and chicken eggs supplied by a local farm as part of an incubation project.

Some of the children were admitted to hospital, but are all now recovering.

They handled chicks frequently as part of their project.

Meanwhile European scientists have completed sequencing the genome of listeria monocytogenes, a leading cause of food poisoning, reports the Financial Times.

Knowledge of the DNA sequence should help identify the genes which make listeria so lethal.

Listeriosis, which is fatal in 20-30% of cases, results from eating contaminated food such as cheese and meat.

• The Express, 20/04/2000, page 8
• Financial Times, 20/04/2000, page 15