Public health investigating E.coli outbreak at childcare facility in Mid-West

VTEC can be a source of food poisoning and can cause bowel inflammation, leading to bloody diarrhoea and severe stomach cramps 

The outbreak was sourced to a childcare setting. File picture. 

The Department of Public Health in the Mid-West is handling an E.coli outbreak at a childcare facility and is reminding the public of the danger this bacteria can pose. 

Verotoxigenic E.coli (VTec) is a powerful strain of E.coli bacterium that lives in the gut of healthy cattle and sheep and can cause serious illness in the elderly and in children aged under five.