The people struck down with the illness have all consumed various venison products including, venison sausages, grill steaks, steaks and meatballs which were raw when purchased and cooked at home. Health Protection Scotland confirmed it has been working with local health protection teams, Foods Standards Scotland and the Scottish E. coli O157/VTEC Reference Laboratory (SERL) to investigate these cases. Dr Syed Ahmed, consultant in health protection/clinical director, Health Protection Scotland, said: “It is important that all deer meat should be cooked thoroughly and should not be eaten medium or rare. The risk of E. coli O157 infection can be reduced by careful hand-washing.” No information was provided regarding the location of the outbreaks.
