E.coli girl, 7, 'fully recovered'

The E.coli O157 bug causes abdominal pain and diarrhoea

A seven-year-old Denbighshire girl who contracted E.coli after a dance camp in Pembrokeshire has fully recovered.

The girl has been recovering at home. An 11-year-old West Midlands girl who also contracted E.coli at the camp, is stable in a Birmingham hospital.

Pembrokeshire council is still in the process of tracking down the 650 people who attended the event in Cresselly.

Dance Camp Wales was attended by people from across the UK and Europe. It ran between 29 July and 9 August.

No more cases have been reported and the outbreak's source is being investigated.

On Monday, the council said it had tracked down about 100 people who were there and it was using letters, e-mails, phone calls and social networking website Facebook to find them.

Jeff Beynon from the council said that because E.coli could be acquired from a wide range of sources, it was difficult to pinpoint the source of the infection.

Risk factors include direct or indirect contact with animals or their faeces, bathing in contaminated water, person to person transmission and infection from food.

Abdominal pain

John Bilsborough, who helps run the camp, said about a third of those there were children.

He said there had never been any previous health problems in the 24 years the 10-day event has been running.

The National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) said anyone who attended the dance camp and was experiencing symptoms that may be associated with E.coli O157 infection should contact their GP or out of hours service for medical advice as a matter of urgency.

The serious bacterial infection causes abdominal pain and diarrhoea and symptoms range from mild diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever to bloody diarrhoea.

Most people recover without complications, but the most severe cases can develop kidney failure.

People who experience symptoms are asked to contact Pembrokeshire council's public protection department on 01437 764551 (0900 - 1200 BST on Saturdays and between 0800 - 1800 BST on weekdays) or e-mail [email protected].

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