Scottish E.Coli cases up 19%

There was a 19% increase in E.coli cases reported in Scotland in 2011, Scottish health authorities have announced.

Overall, a total of 253 cases of E.coli were detected in 2011, compared with 212 cases the previous year, Health Protection Scotland said.

Forty-four of the cases were attributable to a large-scale outbreak of an unusual strain of E.coli – known as PT8 – across the UK, which was linked to soil on vegetables, HPS added. The authority also noted that the number of cases in 2010 had been unusually low.

Meanwhile, the number of salmonella cases in Scotland fell by 22%, with 736 cases reported in 2011 compared with 941 in 2010, and  cases of campylobacter were down by 3.6%, from 6,601 to 6,366, although HPS warned that this was still one of the highest recorded in Scotland.