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Farm cancels lambing event after a number of people fall ill
09/04/2024
The decision to close has been taken but it is yet to be confirmed that the farm is the source
A local farm has cancelled its annual lambing event after a number of people fell ill following visits there.
Hadsham Farm, just outside Horley, took the decision to not allow any further visits yesterday morning, although there isn’t yet any official evidence that the farm is the source.
Last week a number of the farm’s lamb handling volunteers went down with sickness, which could have been associated with norovirus. Online research revealed a potential other cause – Cryptosporidium. This is a microscopic parasite which causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis, with similar symptoms to those experienced by the volunteers.
Cryptosporidium a relatively common bug which can be easily caught from touching animals.
The farm sent specimens of lamb faeces to be tested by a vet, but these came back negative. The UK Health Security Agency were also informed and a team from Cherwell District Council’s Environmental Health visited on Friday, but they allowed the farm to remain open, with a number of precautionary measures in place.
On Sunday evening the first diagnosed case of cryptosporidiosis was confirmed in a farm visitor.
Although there was no evidence that Hadsham Farm was the source they took the decision to close anyway.
A statement on the farm’s website says: “It seems highly likely that we are the probable source of a bug called Cryptosporidium which has made a number of our visitors and staff ill with sickness and diarrhoea.
We are obviously completely devastated here that anyone has become unwell since visiting the farm and we hope that anyone who is ill makes a speedy recovery.”
The Spring Lambing event has been running for a number of years without any issues in previous years. Most years the farm lambs 330 ewes in its barns, before turning around 600 lambs and their mothers to the new grass in their meadows when the weather warms up.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam