Farm reopens six weeks after visitors fell sick

The farm has reopened to visitors after being closed for about six weeks

A farm attraction that had to close after an outbreak of E. coli and cryptosporidium has reopened.

Baylham House Farm near Ipswich closed in April after four reports of visitors catching the two infections.

Farm manager Kate Ockelton said staff and animals were both "really excited to be open" after about six weeks of being closed.

Investigators from government agencies are yet to publish a full report but Ms Ockelton said Environmental Health were happy for them to reopen following the installation of more hand washing stations.

Farm manager Kate Ockelton said they are encouraging visitors to wash their hands

• Why did farm where visitors fell sick need to close?

She explained: "When visitors come in they're having a full brief and we're showing everybody new hand washing stations.

"We're just really encouraging people to wash their hands as that's the key thing when visiting any animal attraction.

"We've never had anything like this before and had no clinical signs with our animals at all."

The attraction has added more hand washing stations

Ms Ockelton said the outbreak was unexpected.

"We actually had Animal and Plant Health Agency visit us over the Easter holidays and they were happy with the health of our livestock," she added.

According to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) E. coli can "cause illness ranging from mild diarrhoea to life threatening conditions".

It is most common in children aged between one and five, but often people who handled infected livestock can be at risk.

There is no specific treatment for the infections, according to the UKHSA.

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